


Makes Perfect Sense

by IngridAnne24



Category: Jane the Virgin (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2017-10-13
Packaged: 2018-10-15 03:55:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 30,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10549660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IngridAnne24/pseuds/IngridAnne24
Summary: Jane and Petra sleep together (literally) and forces them to have a conversation about their relationship.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> What do you mean I wrote Jetra fic where they aren't denying their feelings? That they actually talk?
> 
> God I wish they're actually talk about it on the show
> 
> Also it gets a little meta in the middle. I write for Petra more but I feel like Jane does that a lot when she gets into her own head.

It was watching Petra sleep that made Jane realize she was in deep. 

That sounds weird, but it's true. Jane had realized she had never seen Petra sleep before, because why would she? They only saw each other during the day and usually it was only for no more than a half an hour, unless it was Saturday.

Rafael had a trip planned for the kids and offered to give Jane and Petra a break. A kids-free weekend.

They took it. Jane loved Mateo (obviously) but he was exhausting. And she needed to a little break, maybe catch up on some writing.

That was what Saturday was. Jane holed herself up in her room and wrote like Hell. And she felt great. She didn't even realize how late it had gotten until there was a knock on her door. 

“Yeah, Abuela?”

“It's me.” Petra poked her head in.

“Oh! Petra, what're you doing here? Is everything okay?”

“I texted you, asking if you wanted to have dinner with me.” Petra pointed at Jane's phone on the desk.

“I actually turned it off so I could get work done. I figured if there was an emergency, my grandma or mom could tell me.”

“Ah.”

Petra's eyes scanned the room. She hadn't been in Jane's room in a while, and the circumstances weren't great; it was shortly after Michael died and Jane had holed herself up in her room. Petra was one of the ones to make an attempt to get Jane out. While Petra didn't succeed, Jane did appreciate her harder attitude (she wasn't mean, but she wasn't as comforting as everyone else).

“You painted,” Petra noted.

“I did. I felt like I need to make this room look like a grown-up lived here.”

“I like it. So, dinner?”

“It's a little late, so maybe we could get takeout and eat here?”

The corners of Petra's mouth twitched in a little smile. “That sounds like a good idea.”

Alba had left after she let Petra in, so it was just them. They ordered Chinese and Jane learned something new about Petra; she loved spicy food. Like, really loved it. After asking Jane's permission, she walked into the living room carrying a couple bottles of whatever spicy condiments she could find.

“They don't eat spicy food in the Czech Republic,” Petra said after she covered her chicken and broccoli in sauce. “When I got here, my mother and I went to a Cajun restaurant and I cried because it was too hot. And I was embarrassed, so, naturally, I decided to build up a tolerance to spicy food.”

“You certainly did.”

Jane laughed and Petra popped a piece of chicken into her mouth, smiling around it.

“So, how was your day?” Jane asked.

“Busy. You'd surprised how much goes into running a hotel for children. A lot of legalities that I don't care about. I care about the children, of course, but there's a lot of details that I find tedious.”

“Sounds exhausting. I'm surprised you're not home sleeping. I mean, without the kids, we can sleep in.”

Petra smiled. “It's tempting, but I have another meeting in the morning. Rafael isn't here, so it makes it more complicated. I'm meeting for two.”

Petra made a pun and didn't seem to realize it. Or she did and she was using the element of her often deadpan voice for humor. It was likely the former so Jane didn't acknowledge it.

“Anyway, we could watch a movie if you want? Help you relax a little bit? Unless you just want to go home and go to bed.”

Petra pushed her food around and shook her head. “No, a movie sounds nice. Something easy to follow though.”

Jane had plenty of those movies; rom-coms were her go-to movie. She mentally picked out one while they finished eating. When Petra was done, Jane dipped her finger into the sauce Petra had made and tasted it. She coughed and stuck out her tongue.

“Oh my god, Petra... How does your stomach not have a hole in it?”

Petra just smiled and brought the dishes into the kitchen. While she did that, Jane got up and put the movie in. 13 Going on 30 seemed like the best one; it was one of her favorites. Jane didn't know how Petra felt about rom-coms, but, in her opinion, this was better than a lot of them.

“What's this?”

“13 Going on 30. Have you heard of it?”

Petra shook her head. “Who's in it?”

“Jennifer Garner and Mark Ruffalo. It's really cute.”

“What's it about?”

“A 13-year-old girl who wishes she was older, so she wakes up in the future when she's 30.”

Petra squinted hesitantly. Jane rolled her eyes and patted the couch. “Sit.”

Jane turned out the lights after Petra sat down. She hadn't watched the movie in a while, so she was pretty invested in it. She laughed and cringed at all the appropriate scenes, but didn't hear anything from Petra. She looked over and found Petra half-asleep, her head bobbing.

“Petra?”

Petra perked up at her name and cleared her throat. “This is cute.”

“Are you okay? Do you need go home?”

“What makes you say that?”

Jane mimicked the look Petra had on her face just a minute ago. 

Petra scoffed. “I didn't look like that. And no, I'm fine.”

“Do you want to watch something else?”

“It has nothing to do with the movie. It's just been a very long day.”

Petra grabbed a throw blanket from the back of the couch and put it over her legs. Jane grabbed a corner and pulled a section over her own legs. Petra turned her head back to the screen and Jane did the same.

As interested as she was in the movie, she was even more interested in Petra, who was desperately trying to stay awake. Why she was trying so hard, Jane didn't know. The movie was good, but she didn't think it was physically-prop-your-eye-open good (which Petra was doing while leaning on her elbow). 

Jane checked her phone and saw that it was nearly 1am. The movie was about two-thirds over and Petra was still awake, but barely. She kept moving and shifting, reminding Jane of when Mateo was tired but didn't want to sleep; constantly moving. 

After about ten minutes, Jane looked over at Petra. Her eyes were closed. Jane paused the movie.

“I'm not asleep,” Petra said, eyes still closed.

“Oh?”

“Just resting my eyes. Turn it back on, I'm listening.”

Jane knew 'resting' your eyes was a gamble, but she wasn't about to argue with Petra. Sure enough, about five minutes later, she heard soft snoring to her left. There wasn't much left in the movie so she decided to finish it. As always, she teared up in the end. She wished Petra was awake to see it, but they could watch it another time.

When it was over, she looked back at Petra. Petra almost constantly had some sort of frown or scowl or haughty look on her face. But not now. It was relaxed, peaceful. Her golden hair was illuminated by the dim light of the television screen. Jane had a sudden urge to reach over and touch her hair, and she actually started to do that, just to push her hair out of her face. But Petra suddenly let out a snort and Jane pulled her hand back.

Then Petra half sat up, making Jane think she had woken up. Her eyes were half-open, but she wasn't looking anywhere in particular. She mumbled something, then lied down on Jane's legs, using the side of Jane's thigh as a pillow.

“Okay, I guess that's happening,” Jane said quietly.

She grabbed the blanket to awkwardly pull it over both of them, turned off the TV, and closed her eyes. She couldn't sleep, though, because Petra was right there, her head on Jane's ass. She really was pretty, Jane couldn't help but notice. Obviously, Jane had noticed this before, but right now she was really noticing it. She always looked so controlled, so it was nice seeing Petra completely relaxed.

Petra sighed and smiled in her sleep before wrapping her arms around Jane's lower body. Jane reached up to pull the blanket closer to them, then as she brought her hand back, she stroked Petra's cheek. It was a unconscious gesture and as soon as she realized what she was doing, she quickly extracted her hand.

“Nope,” she whispered. She couldn't do this.

Their relationship was complicated, to put it mildly. They hated each other (in the past) and they loved each other. They got on each others nerves and disagreed a lot. They supported each other and comforted one another. They were friends. Sort of. It was 'sort of' because it felt different. It didn't feel like her friendship with Lina. They weren't affectionate with one another, partially because Petra wasn't an affectionate person. But also, any time there was accidental touching, it felt weird, like there was too much unsaid in one touch. 

Like right now. Petra was basically spooning Jane and Jane couldn't sleep because of it. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was something. Again, Jane and Lina had spooned many times before and it didn't feel anything like this.

It didn't feel like her and Michael either, because Petra wasn't Michael. They were different people and Jane's relationship with them was also different. Jane very soon after meeting Michael that there was something special and she allowed herself to think that because of Michael's gender. Thanks to her advisor, Jane had fallen into a hole of researching about heteronormativity; she devoured books and essays about the subject. Some time after Michael's death, she started thinking about her relationship with him and all of the other men she had either been with or been attracted to. Was she attracted to them merely because she thought she had to? Her upbringing had revolved around relationships with men, with all the men Xiomara had dated or slept with, while Alba had the whole flower-virginity thing. 

Jane had realized not too long ago that her definition of virginity was highly heteronormative, as it put emphasis on penile-penetration. A woman is no longer a virgin once she is penetrated with a penis. So, by that logic, cis-men (another term she had learned in her research) couldn't be virgins. Unless they were gay, but did anal sex count? Or what if they were lesbians? Do fingers count?

A week was devoted to this research and Jane's world was turned upside down. Did her abuela ever think about things like this? That virginity was either more complicated, or simply not a thing? Could any sort of sexual activity with another person constitute as losing ones virginity? The times Michael touched Jane, did she technically lose her virginity then? Or when he went down on her?

This also turned into Jane learning that the majority of women can't have orgasms from vaginal stimulation alone. A fact she wished she had known when she and Michael had repeatedly had sex to give her an orgasm. That maybe it was okay that “traditional” sex wasn't working; it did eventually, but it shouldn't have been that difficult.

Now, back to Petra. Jane wondered if Petra were a man if that would change things. They were co-parenting, they spent a lot of time together, they did things for each other (Petra financed Jane's house, for God's sake, Jane still had no idea what that meant). Some of that applied to Rafael, too, but they tried and they just didn't work. Jane loved Rafael, but not like that. And Jane knew this because when they hugged, it was simply comfortable, with no unsaid feelings hovering over them.

Not the case for Petra. And Jane wondered if her own heteronormative view of the world had blinded her to the potential of her and Petra, or her and any woman. She had never considered dating women, but she certainly noticed how attractive they were. But she always thought it was her own appreciation of women, because of who she was raised by, and that was definitely part of it. She loved women, but what if she also really loved women.

That said, whatever she and Petra had was nice, comfortable. And she didn't know if Petra had thought about any of this. She probably didn't overthink things like Jane did, at least not to this extent of obsessively think about this until 2:30am (which was what it was at the moment). Jane hated the idea of something going wrong and their relationship crumbling because of it.

Just as Jane was finally falling asleep, she heard Petra sigh and felt those arms hold her even tighter.

She woke up to a large amount of weight on top of her. It was too heavy to be Mateo and smelled too sweet. Then she remembered where she was and who was on the couch. Petra must have moved in the night and wedged herself between the couch and Jane, or at least tried to because she was more on top of Jane. Her bony elbow was also jabbing Jane into her breast and Jane was worried if she tried to move that Petra would wake up.

Apart from the fact that Petra was surprisingly heavy and on top of her, she was pretty comfortable. It still felt pretty early and if there wasn't that fact that she also had to pee, she'd go back to sleep.

“Petra?” Jane whispered, gently shaking her body. Petra didn't budge. Her cheek was resting on Jane's shoulder and she was drooling. Jane reached behind her and tried to close Petra's slack-jawed mouth. Petra suddenly made a snorting noise and her eyes blinking open, making contact with Jane's.

“Good morning,” Jane said, smiling sheepishly.

Petra didn't move. She stared at Jane for a moment, then looked off somewhere else. Even if Jane could actually get a good look at Petra's face, she wouldn't be able to read her.

“Good morning,” Petra said. “Sorry.”

“It's okay.” It was the truth, Jane really didn't mind.

Petra awkwardly wiggled her way off of Jane, which involved her putting her hand on Jane's hip to push herself down Jane's body and move to the other end of the couch—the spot she was originally in. With Jane now sitting up, they were as far away from each other on the couch as she could be.

“That was, um, fun last night,” Petra said, her cheeks either tinged from just waking up, or, well, something else.

“You fell asleep,” Jane reminded her.

“Yes, but before that. Again, it had nothing to do with the movie, I was just very tired.”

“Why'd you come over if you were so tired? And why did you make such a big deal about staying awake?”

Petra combed her fingers through her hair, which Jane just noticed wasn't perfectly curled like it usually was. It was curled, but more haphazardly, not the usual controlled way. Jane noted it was sort of bushy.

“I wanted to see you,” Petra finally said. “I like spending time with you.”

“I like spending time with you too. Petra, if you weren't falling asleep because of the movie, were you staying awake because of it? I mean, it's good, but it's not that good.”

Petra pulled her fingers through her hair again; was that a nervous habit? Jane had never seen her do that before.

“No.”

“What was the--”

“You.” Petra's eyes fluttered closed as she said this, before opening them to look right at Jane.

“Me?”

It was stupid, because Jane knew what Petra was trying to say, but like always, her history of reading into things and overthinking was making her be very careful.

“Yes, you. I already said I like spending time with you.” And Petra had the habit of snapping at people when she was feeling too vulnerable. “I stayed awake because I wanted to be with you.”

“Petra...”

They locked eyes for a minute or so, and just as Jane was about to move towards Petra, Petra stood up.

“I should go.”

Whatever was happening between them, Petra was pulling away. That's what she does. And Jane needed to do something.

“Petra, wait.”

Petra hadn't made any actual attempt at leaving and was standing there, her eyes cast down to the floor.

“We need to talk about something,” Jane said softly, her voice cracking a little.

When Petra did look at Jane, Jane could feel the weight of her gaze, like they both knew what was coming.

“Sit. Please.”

Petra did, her hands gripping her knees tightly. Jane sat beside her. She was quiet for a moment while she tried to organize her thoughts, which were spinning around in her head. If she was going to say something, now was probably the time, while they didn't have Rafael, or the kids, or Alba, or Xiomara to distract them.

“I want to say something.” Jane took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled through her mouth. “I used to think that a person has only one soul-mate, that Michael was mine. So, when he died, I thought, that's it. Even if I found love again, it wouldn't be that. It wouldn't be what I had with Michael.”

Petra said nothing, but she was staring intently at Jane.

Jane continued. “And that's true, what I have with someone else won't be what I had with Michael, but,” Jane swallowed, “but, I don't think that means it won't be any less meaningful, right?”

Petra nodded slowly.

“I've had crushes on people. Mostly men, but looking back, I think I had them on women too. Do you know what heteronormativity is, Petra?”

Jane didn't expect her to say yes, but she nodded. “I do, Jane. Luisa told me about it.”

“Well, I think it's messed with me a little bit. I've only ever considered dating guys because it's really been the only option presented to me.”

There was a small, sharp intake of air from Petra, but she didn't say anything.

“I hate that I lost Michael, hate it. I'm not a perfect person, but I don't think I deserved that.”

“You certainly didn't.”

“But you know what Mateo taught me? That sometimes, you have find the light in the darkness. Well, he didn't teach me that directly, but looking at him... I have to move forward, and that's what I've been trying to do. That's why I wrote about Michael, it was my way of moving on. I've started dating, sleeping with people, but you know what? It doesn't feel right. And I was thinking it was because of Michael, that nothing would ever feel right.”

The more Jane spoke, the more it was making sense, at least to her. If Petra was following her, she didn't know.

“But it's not Michael. I mean, it's not because of him. It's not him.”

Jane's train of thought wandered off for a moment and while she tried to organize herself, a hand was placed on her knee. 

“Jane.”

Petra looked just as loss for words, her mouth working, her eyebrows furrowed. Her hand patted at Jane's knee.

“I only believed in soulmates once in my life. When I met Milos. I was twenty-two and stupid and thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with him. Then, well, you know what he was like. I found out the hard way.”

Petra paused and Jane watched her closely. Whenever she was feeling vulnerable, she always have a lot of trouble looking directly at a person, especially Jane.

“But, just because I don't believe there's some... cosmic force bringing people together, doesn't mean I don't think there some people who are very compatible.”

“Do you think we're compatible?” Jane asked before she could stop herself. It was a loaded question, Jane knew this, but she was curious about what Petra thought.

“I don't know. We haven't dated.”

Jane put her hand on top of Petra's on her knee. “Would you... like to?”

Petra regarded Jane cooly, but the more Jane looked at Petra, the more she could see the pulsing vein in her neck. 

“That might not be the worst thing ever.”

“Petra...”

“Fine, yes, let's go on a date.” As Petra said it, Jane could see the hint of a smile.

Something then occurred to Jane. “This kinda was a date, Petra. Last night? I mean, we were alone, had dinner, watched a movie. Slept together.”

Petra visibly blushed and combed her fingers through her hair again. “Literally slept together. But yes, I suppose so.”

“So, really, it'd be our second date.”

Petra's eyes went wide. She turned her large, blue eyes up at Jane, then looked away. She was still blushing. “Yes.”

“I want to do this, Petra,” Jane said, leaning towards Petra. “Unless you don't want to? I don't want to force you into anything.”

Petra's gaze snapped back to Jane, her eyes almost comically wide.

“I want to do this, Jane. Really.”

Jane suddenly realized she had been massaging Petra's knuckles with her fingers. She stopped, but kept her hand there.

“Then let's do it.”

“Tonight?”

“Oh.” That was sooner than Jane was thinking, but she nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Petra's eyes lit up and she was starting to smile more.

“Yeah,” Jane half-laughed. “Tonight. Let's go on a date tonight.”


	2. Chapter 2

Spending three hours picking out an outfit for her date with Petra seemed crazy, because it was Petra, one of her best friends (which also seemed crazy). Petra had seen Jane at her best and her worst, so the fact Jane was agonizing over what she was going to wear was ridiculous.

Still, here she was, half in the closet (which seemed like a fitting metaphor for her situation right now) digging through clothes she probably should have gotten rid of years ago.

She was honestly surprised Petra had said yes. They had known each for what? Three years? Wait, no, five years? Jane had lost track. Regardless, they had known each for a while, been friends for slightly less time. Now Jane couldn't imagine her life without Petra. They still had their ups and downs, but Jane wouldn't have it any other way.

So back to Petra saying yes. Did she feel the same way for Jane as Jane felt for Petra? And how exactly did Jane feel for Petra? She liked Petra, as in she had a crush on her; Jane had figured that out. How big of a crush, Jane didn't know yet. She supposed this date would help her figure it out. As for Petra, Jane didn't know. She said yes, so that might be something, unless Petra thought this was a platonic date? Except Jane had made it pretty clear what her intentions were. At least she thought so. Something she knew about Petra was that she was hard to read. And Petra didn't always have the easiest time reading other people. So it was highly possible that both of them misread it.

And Jane often referred to platonic gatherings between a pair of same-gendered people as “dates.” She did it when Petra actually asked her out for lunch (Jane called it a date platonically, but now she was wondering if Petra had meant it as something else) and she did it again when Michael and Rafael were working out together. Again, heteronormativity at play because when she refers to a gather between two-gendered people as a date, she means it romantically. 

“Hey, Jane, where's... What're you doing?” Xiomara came into her room, eyeing Jane in the closet.

“Just going through some clothes. Where's who?”

“Abuela. I'm surprised she isn't here.”

“Oh,” Jane paused. She had been focused on Petra that she didn't even notice the lack of her grandmother's presence. “She never came home.”

“After her date with Jorge?” Xiomara's mouth formed into an 'o' and her eyebrows went up.

“Ma...” Jane said warningly. “It's her business.”

Xiomara threw herself onto Jane's bed. “You don't think she...”

“If she did or not, that's her business.” Jane's lips curled into a smile. “Let's wait a day before we tease her.”

Xiomara rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine. So, are you getting rid of clothes? 'Cause you know I'll gladly take some of them.”

Jane clutched a dress that she liked in her hands. Petra had never seen her in this dress, she didn't think. She looked good in this color of yellow. “Um, no. I mean, you can take some if you want, but I'm not getting rid of them.”

“So why are you going through...” There was that face again. “Ooh, do you have a date?”

Jane could feel herself blush furiously and she turned her head back to the closet, away from her mother.

“You do!” Xiomara scooted to the end of the bed and leaned towards Jane. “What's his name? Is he cute?”

“It doesn't matter.”

“Do I know him?”

Jane licked her lips and looked at Xiomara out of the corner of her eye. “You may know... them.”

Xiomara didn't seem to pick up on the gender-neutral pronoun because she kept asking questions, referring to “him” and “he.”

Finally, Jane couldn't take it anymore.

“It's Petra!”

This stopped Xiomara. She froze, blinking slowly at her daughter.

“Sorry?”

Jane turned around fully. “I'm going on a date with Petra.”

“Petra... Solano? As in, your enemy to fellow baby mama, to friend to... whatever she was in the middle, to friend again?”

“Yes, that Petra.” 

“Like, a date-date?”

“Yes. Well, I think so.”

“Who asked who?”

Jane finally got off the floor, the dress still in her hands. She sat beside Xiomara on the bed. “I asked her. Ma, I like her.”

“Like-like?”

“Why does saying something twice make it more official?”

“I don't know. That's just how the English language works. Anyway, so, um,” Xiomara just shrugged. “When did this happen?”

“Last night? Petra and I slept together and...”

Xiomara smacked Jane on the arm as her own arm jerked. “What?”

“I mean literally. We watched a movie together and Petra fell asleep. And I was just, watching her and these feelings started coming up. Then I started realizing these feelings have been there for a while, before I even married Michael, I think.”

Xiomara listened quietly, nodding, probably trying really hard to understand.

“Then I woke up the next morning with her on top of me—again, just sleeping—and those feelings hit me hard. And Petra woke up and just stared at me, and you could cut the tension with a knife. So, after some rambling, I asked her out. And she said yes.”

“Jane, do you remember Rebecca Lopez?”

That was a name she hadn't thought of in years, for good reason.

“Vaguely.”

Xiomara scoffed. “Jane, you wrote her name in your notebook. I saw it; you weren't being sneaky.”

Memories of Rebecca started coming up. Jane was ten, innocent and as opinionated as ever. Jane's ability to focus on class was always a point of pride of her, but there was one thing that started standing in the way of Jane's attention span. Her name was Rebecca Lopez. She was sweet, pretty, and tall; one of the tallest in the class. Jane would often find herself staring at the back of Rebecca's head, until Lina would throw a paper ball at Jane. One day, while Jane was staring, Lina sent a message up to Rebecca, telling her to turn around. When she did, she locked eyes with Jane and smiled, and Jane had the confusing feeling of wanting to smile back and throw up.

“Rebecca Villanueva. Jane Lopez.”

“Ma, that was a long time ago. And it didn't end well.”

“Did you tell Rebecca?”

“Tell her what?”

“That you had a crush on her?”

“No, and I didn't even tell you guys.”

So Jane started telling her mom about why she didn't tell them. She came home one day, buzzing, excited to tell them she liked a girl. She had had a crush on a boy the year before, it didn't work out because she discovered he hated reading. So she was pretty sure this was a crush. As she walked in the door, she heard her grandmother complaining about something.

“I just don't understand,” Alba had said in Spanish, her voice sharp. 

“What's the big deal, Ma?” Xiomara sighed.

Jane had crept closer to the kitchen, where her mother and grandmother were, just outside the doorway.

“Why did they have to do that?” Alba asked.

“Ma. It's just two women kissing. So what?”

“It serves no purpose. Why did they have to put that on the show? Children might watch it.”

“Not many children watch telenovelas, Ma.”

“Jane does!”

Jane had gripped the edge of the doorway tightly, trying to understand this. What was the big deal about women kissing? Was it bad? Was it bad that she liked Rebecca?

“It's just a little bit... Upsetting,” Alba had said, her voice now quiet like the whole conversation was a terrible secret.

It was then that Jane decided to not tell them. She also decided that she couldn't like Rebecca anymore. She would never let herself like any girls. It soon became so ingrained in her head that if she had felt any crushes on a girl, she automatically ignored it.

Now she was remembering all of it.

“Janey, I'm sorry,” Xiomara said softly. She wiped a tear from Jane's face that she didn't even know was there. “I didn't mean to bring all that up.”

“No, it's okay. I think it's good. It's nice to realize that Petra isn't my first—whatever this is—on a girl. A woman,” Jane corrected herself.

“So it is a crush. You're not, like, in love with her, right?”

It was the fact that Jane couldn't answer right away that terrified her. She started reflecting on it, how this may have started. Petra wasn't a perfect person, far from it, but Jane had watched her struggle and grow and see what a good person she really was. Sure, she had some bad (awful) mistakes, but she learned from them. Jane liked that tough side of Petra, but also that sweet side that came out sometimes.

“I don't know,” Jane answered honestly. “I really don't know. I'm hoping this date will help me figure it out.”

“And Petra?”

“What about her?”

“Does she like you back?”

Jane shrugged. “Assuming she didn't misunderstand this date, she did say yes.”

“It's hard to tell with her.”

“Yeah,” Jane chuckled softly. “She likes to keep her emotions buried down.”

Xiomara quirked an eyebrow. “And that doesn't bother you? You like people to communicate.”

“We know each other pretty well and I know when something is bothering her. Plus, neither of us like bullshit so that usually works out.”

Jane found her mother staring intently at her, her eyes searching her daughter's face. 

“What?” 

“You seem happy,” Xiomara said softly.

Jane tried to force down her rapidly growing smile and failed. She didn't know what to say, so she shrugged and continued to smile.

Then Xiomara's expression quickly changed. “But, if she hurts you, I swear to God. She has a history of fucking with people and she better not do that to you.”

“Ma,” Jane laughed. “She won't.”

Xiomara didn't look convinced and the more Jane thought about it, the less she was convinced. She didn't think Petra would actively try to hurt her, but what if it was out of Petra's control, out of their control.

“She won't,” Jane repeated.

Xiomara quickly went back to be cautiously optimistic, for Jane's sake, and helped her pick out an outfit. It was a light green dress, one Jane had forgotten she had. It still fit and she did like the way she looked in it.

“Oh, you're so getting laid tonight,” Xiomara said teasingly.

“Ma!” Jane snapped, blushing furiously. “That's not happening. Even if it does go well.”

“Petra looks like she'd be good in bed,” Xiomara noted, almost sounding like she was saying it to herself. But she clearly wasn't, judging by the grin directed at Jane.

Jane's face was now so hot she was almost sweating. Xiomara had joked about Jane having sex before, but she hadn't reacted like this in a long time. And now, it was more of a possibly because Jane was actually willing to have sex. It's just, it was Petra. Not that Jane was opposed to having sex with Petra, because she probably is good in bed, but it was Petra, her friend, her co-mom, her whatever. How Jane may feel about Petra was irrelevant.

“I'm joking,” Xiomara said, clearly noticing the looking on her daughter's face. “You do what makes you comfortable.”

“Have you ever slept with a woman?”

“No, but I masturbate, so how different could it be?”

Jane waved her hand. “Okay, I think that's enough. I need to text Petra.”

“Alright, Jane.” Xiomara leaned over and kissed Jane on the forehead. “Have fun, be safe, give me the details afterwards.”

“Will do. Love you, Mom.”

As soon as Xiomara left, Jane texted Petra: “where are we going?”

Almost immediately, Petra texted back: “you don't know?”

For some reason Jane had assumed Petra would pick a place, since Petra had more connections and knew about some fancier places. Jane chewed at her bottom lip for a moment, thinking, then a place came to her.

“kidding. I know a place. Do you like mexican?”

“i don't eat it often but yes”

“great! Then I know somewhere. I'll pick you up?”

The typing bubble popped up a couple times before disappearing for a minute: “okay”

Jane looked in her mirror and found herself smiling some big, dumb smile. She was actually excited about it. But she was also nervous, because what if it doesn't go well and once again, her and Petra's friendship was strained. Or, what if it does go well and it actually becomes A Thing. Her and Petra.

Petra was already outside in front of The Marbella when Jane pulled up. She was also wearing a green dress; a little bit darker than Jane's, but it was definitely green. Jane was laughing as she rolled down the window. Petra's eyes bugged a little bit.

“Well, this is unfortunate.”

“We look like we're in some club,” Jane laughed.

“Should I change?”

“No, no, get in.”

Petra slipped inside and eyed Jane. “Eyeing” also looked like checking her out, but that may have been wishful thinking on Jane's part.

“You look lovely,” Petra said.

“You do too. You look good in that green.”

Petra flashed her a smile and smoothed out her dress. “So, where are we going?” 

“Uh, it's called La Gata Mar. It's not super fancy, but it has great food.”

Petra squinted. “My Spanish isn't great, but, the sea cat?”

“Yeah,” Jane laughed. “The owner as a cat that likes going on boats or something. It's good, trust me.”

“I trust you.”

Jane grinned before driving there. They didn't talk much in the car, which was fine because it wasn't far. As they walked inside, Petra started smoothing out her dress.

“I'm over-dressed,” she whispered to Jane.

“You're fine.”

“It's casual.”

Casual by Petra's standards, but to Jane, at least when she was younger, it was “fine dining.” It wasn't a dive or anything. Sure, it didn't have table-clothes, but it also wasn't like Taco Bell or Chipotle. It was a nice in between.

“It's fine,” Jane said as they sat at their table. They both ordered margaritas. “I recommend the pollo asado. Or, honestly, the burritos are really good too.”

Petra chewed at her lip as she looked at the menu, not responding to Jane had just said. Jane was looking at her own menu, but kept looking over it at Petra. Several questions were burning the back of Jane's brain.

“Petra,” Jane said slowly, lowering her menu. “Why did you say yes?”

“To this?” Petra asked, rather casually. 

“Yes. Why?”

Petra continued looking at her menu, obviously avoiding Jane's eye. “Why do you think why?”

Oh, Jane had many different reasons swimming in her head. Some bad, some good. It wasn't fair of Petra to ask that.

“Because... we're friends? And didn't want me to feel bad?”

Petra finally lowered her menu. “Jane. Yes, we are friends, but that's not why I said yes.” Before she could say anything more, the waitress came. “Can we talk about this later?”

Jane nodded. She did prefer them to have this conversation in a more private area. She ended up ordering the pollo asada, while Petra ordered a burrito (which surprised Jane, since it didn't seem like something Petra would eat).

They decided to put that conversation on the back-burner, for now, and talked about things like the kids, and Jane's family, Jane's book(s), Petra's venture into running a hotel for children. So they had plenty to talk about, but that conversation was weighing heavily on Jane and she could sense the same for Petra.

Of course Petra covered her burrito in various salsas and ended up eating the whole thing. Jane ate slowly, watching Petra.

“I don't usually eat that much on dates,” Petra admitted when she noticed Jane staring at her. She delicately wiped red sauce from the corner of her mouth. “But I was very hungry. I didn't eat all day.”

“Why not?”

Petra's face was red from the hot sauce, so if she was blushing, Jane couldn't tell. “I was nervous about tonight,” she admitted.

“Oh,” Jane chuckled nervous and smiled. “You have no reason to be nervous. We hang out all the time.”

“Yes, but this is different.”

Jane knew this, she knew it was different. She could feel it. Even if they just decide to be friends, it will likely always be different.

“Look, Petra, I'm glad you said yes, but if you don't want to do this, or just let it be... I'd understand. I don't want this to be weird, you know?” 

“I wanted to say yes. You honestly think I'd say yes if I didn't want to?” Petra snorted. “Maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do.”

This made Jane feel a little bit better. “You're right.”

The rest of the dinner was nice. They talked like they normally did, so it wasn't too bad. Still, the idea that this was meant to be a date-date weighed on Jane's mind. It kept nagging her, telling her to talk to Petra about it, ask her if she felt the same. But Jane told herself to wait, to not ruin this before it even started.

They went back to the Marbella afterwards, to have coffee and cookies. 

“I baked them myself,” Petra joked. A rare Petra-joke, which threw Jane off everytime. “Actually, that guy, um...”

Petra placed the plate of cookies down on the coffee table. Her mouth twisted as she thought.

“If you don't know his name, it's okay,” Jane laughed. She knew Petra wasn't great with their names if they didn't make any sort of impression on her.

“No, it's, uh... Oh! Mark.”

“Ooh, Mark. Yeah. He's really good at baking.” It was actually Mike, but Jane knew it was better to let it go.

Petra then brought the coffee out, placed it on the table, and sat on the couch. Jane followed her lead. Silence fell over them.

Then, that question Jane had asked earlier started to rear it's head again. They were alone now, so they didn't have to worry about someone overhearing.

“Petra--”

“Jane, I said yes because I like you,” Petra quickly said. She then took a quick sip of her coffee and recoiled from the heat.

Jane picked up a cookie and held it over her mouth, without eating it. “Like me how?”

Petra shifted her position on the couch a couple times, her eyes not meeting Jane's. “When Michael died, we started spending a lot of time together. I was helping you with your grieving—not greatly, I'm sure you can admit—and you were helping me with the twins. That was the first time we really spent a lot time together, without Rafael or Michael. If you remember, we had tried the friends thing when I was pregnant, but circumstances made it difficult...” Mainly Magda murdering that guy, then Anezka showing up, then Petra being paralyzed (which Jane found out about far too late). “I mean, we had some moments before, like when we were at the book signing, followed by me giving birth. You helped me accept that I had postpartum depression.”

Petra stopped and cleared her throat. Enraptured, Jane had never heard Petra talk this much at once. Jane could really heard her Czech accent come out the more she spoke.

“Um, so. Our relationship had been strained, but then we were spending all this time together and I started to realized something, that my need to be around you and to do things for you wasn't just me craving a friend. It was, sort of, but it was more than that. I was craving a relationship where it wasn't toxic, where I didn't feel like I had to work so hard to make it work. Our relationship,” she gestured between herself and Jane, “just was, once we got to this point.”

Jane finally took a bite of her cookie, trying to keep herself from crying. She could see the tears in Petra's eyes.

“Then I started feeling things. For you. And it was confusing and weird. For a number of reasons. One, your husband had died. Two, you were my friend. But seeing you, every week, loving my daughters like your own...”

Petra drank some more coffee, swallowing loudly. 

“So, I didn't say anything. I started sleeping with Chuck and told myself I liked him, even though I didn't really want to. Then I slept with Rafael, trying to reclaim this old feeling. Neither worked.”

“Petra, why did you do that? Why didn't you say something to me?” Jane asked.

“What would I say, Jane?” Petra laughed, harshly. “'Jane, sorry your husband died, but, even though we're friends, let's date? Let's, just, do it?' I had no idea how you felt. I didn't know you wanted to do this and I didn't want to make it awkward.”

“Honestly, I didn't know either until last night. I think it's been there awhile, but I was also ignoring it. Maybe not as long as you, but, it's been there. And seeing you sleeping, I don't know, it brought stuff up.”

“Seeing me sleeping is what did it?”

Jane shrugged. “You're a very cute sleeper, you know.”

Petra no longer had the excuse of spicy food to explain the very obvious blush. Jane moved a little bit closer to Petra, her hand now on Petra's knee. She could see Petra's throat bob up and down, that long neck.

“Jane, uh, I do like you, but I don't want to rush into anything you're not ready for.”

“I've been dating, remember?” Jane said softly. “I've even had sex.”

“I'm aware,” Petra said slowly. Her whole body was tense.

“Unless you don't want to rush into anything,” Jane said, pulling back slightly.

“It's not that. I just want to be sure this is what you want.”

Jane laughed, loudly. “Petra, I asked you, remember? And you said yes. We like each other, we know each other, it's okay.”

Then Jane kissed Petra and Petra kissed back. It was tender and slow. Chaste, really. How a first kiss with one of your best friends should be, Jane thought. Then it hit her, she was actually kissing Petra. For a moment, then Petra pulled away.

“What? Are you okay?” Jane asked.

“I'm fine,” Petra stood up suddenly, still tense. “I think Rafael will be back soon. Maybe you should go back, home. He'll probably drop Mateo off there.”

“It'd make more sense for him to just come here and I can take Mateo home.”

Petra shook her head, her face red. “You should go. I'll call you.”

“Uh, okay.” Jane picked up her purse and waved awkwardly at Petra. “Okay, so, bye?”

“Bye, Jane.” Petra gave Jane a quick peck on the cheek before sending her on her way.

And Jane just stood outside the door, blinking. What the hell just happened?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In light of the newest Jane the Virgin episode, I'm more and more convinced that Jane Gloriana Villanueva is in love with Petra Solano. I can't get over that jealousy thing because it's totally Petra, not Rafael.

Petra didn't text Jane, nor would she return any of Jane's texts. So Jane's imagination ran wild. Maybe Petra thought she was a bad kisser, or Petra decided she didn't like Jane in that way. If that the latter was the case, that was up to Petra. Jane would never make Petra think they should be in a relationship; Petra had experienced that enough already.

Still, it hurt a little bit. She would think Petra would respect her enough to be honest with her.

Saturday brunch was the next day, anyway, so unless Petra decided to cancel, that was probably Jane's best chance to talk to Petra.

Except, Rafael was going to be there and Jane didn't want to exclude him. Then she starting thinking about Rafael, who was married to Petra, fell in love with Jane, fell out of love with Jane (which took a while), then fell back in love with Petra. He seemed to be over his crush on Petra, but with him, it was really hard to tell.

Brunch came. Petra greeted Jane like she always did, but her usual smile was stiff, and her hug was more like the hugs she gave women she barely knew. 

“Jane,” she said, inclining her head slightly, barely making eye contact with Jane.

“Petra, uh,” Jane started, but Rafael came in the room, three children clinging to his arms.

Jane tried to communicate with Petra with her eyes, telling her that she wanted to talk, but Petra refused to meet her eye for more than a second.

The actual meal wasn't too awkward, they talked to Rafael like they always did and he didn't seem to suspect anything. He certainly didn't know that his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend had made-out two days ago. And Jane was doing pretty well with pretending nothing was wrong, though she found herself looking at Petra a lot, hoping Petra would actually look at her. She still hadn't.

The kids passed out shortly after the meal, and then that's when it became awkward. Jane kept staring at Petra, Petra wouldn't look at Jane, and Rafael was looking at them both, likely confused why no one was talking.

Jane had to say something, because it was really killing her. Except Rafael was there and she didn't know how to send him away without raising suspicions. She had to try to speak to Petra subtly.

She laughed suddenly. “Mateo told me the funniest thing last night, about these kids in his class? Apparently, these two kids kissed each other, and now they won't talk to each other.”

Rafael frowned. “I'm not sure that's funny. The teacher let them kiss?”

“Well, yeah...”

“They shouldn't be kissing each other. Do they even like each other?”

“Well, they must, if they kissed,” Jane shrugged, her gaze drifting over to Petra, who was obviously trying very hard to not look at Jane.

“I don't know. I've kissed plenty of women I didn't really like. But that's besides the point, they're kids; they shouldn't be doing that.”

“My point is, they should still talk to each other, because regardless of what the kiss meant, it still happened. Don't you think, Petra?”

Petra's eyes dramatically drifted to Jane, like they were heavy, and she shrugged. “I suppose.”

Jane bit her lip. She wasn't going to yell at Petra, but she wanted to. Why was Petra acting like this? Was she always like this with people she kissed? This complete withdrawal? This wasn't the Petra that Jane was used to. The Petra she knew was direct and avoided bullshit.

“Petra, I'd like to speak with you,” Jane said slowly.

Petra briefly looked like she was going to protest, but she nodded and got to her feet. “Okay.”

“Raf, we'll be right back.”

“Uh, sure.” Jane saw him squint at them, but he didn't say anything.

They went into Petra's room and Petra closed the door. But Jane knew Rafael could easily hear them, so she pushed Petra into the bathroom and closed that door.

Petra was trying to keep her face impassive, Jane could see that, but Jane could also see her mouth twitching, her throat bobbing up and down. All that annoyance Jane had been feeling suddenly melted away.

“What's going on, Petra?”

Petra leaned up against the counter, her hands gripping the edge tightly. “I panicked.”

“Why?”

Petra laughed softly, like it was a ridiculous question. “Because, you're Jane.”

There was a pause, and Jane waited for her to say more because that couldn't be it. But Petra didn't say more.

“Petra, I don't know what that has to do with this.”

Petra closed her eyes. “When I was kissing you, I started thinking about how I've always fucked up relationships. That there might be something seriously wrong with me. None of my relationships have been good. Even with Rafael, which was good at some point, it was based on me getting divorced from Lachlan. Then Rafael fell out of love with me and... It's just been a series of shitty relationships.”

Petra wasn't crying, but her eyes were puffy when she opened them again. Jane reached out and pulled her hand up to her own chest.

“It wasn't you, Petra. They were just shitty men. No offense to Rafael.”

Petra laughed sarcastically. “It wasn't me?”

“No. Milos? You were young and naive, you didn't know how awful he was. Lachlan? He had money, but you fell in love with Rafael, who also had money, but that's irrelevant. Then... Rafael didn't handle some things well; his Cancer, your miscarriage. Roman? You were lonely. I don't support infidelity—I know, that thing with Rafael was bad and I'm sorry. Really sorry. Then--”

Petra held up her hand. “I don't need to hear my whole dating history.”

“My point is, you may have done some bad things, but that doesn't mean you don't deserve to be happy. I've spent a lot of time with you and you are a good person. You're actually pretty sweet.”

A smile twitched at Petra's lips. “I'm not, but thank you.”

“You are. I mean, there must be a reason I like you; I usually like sweet people.”

A blush went up Petra's neck. “I'm sorry I ran out like that.”

“It's okay. Just, please, talk to me next time.”

Petra nodded. “I will.”

“So, if it's alright with you, I'd like to kiss you again?”

“You may.”

Jane leaned up and pressed a gentle kiss to Petra's lips. There was no hesitation before Petra returned it, and there was no hesitation as Petra built up the kiss, getting more into it. Her hand cupped the back of Jane's skull and pulled her closer. Their lips and mouths moved together in tandem, gradually learning what the other liked.

When they finally broke apart, they both gasped. Petra had a huge smile on her face, the largest Jane had ever seen.

Petra moved to kiss Jane again, but Jane—regretfully--stopped her. 

“Raf's gonna get suspicious. I'm not in the mood to explain this to him right now.”

Petra pursed her lips, but she agreed. “Ugh, we are going to have to tell him at some point. Hopefully he's not a little shit about it.”

Jane laughed loudly, then placed a quick kiss on Petra's cheek before opening the door to the bathroom, then the bedroom.

“Everything okay?” Rafael asked. 

“Of course.”

Jane couldn't help but throw Petra a quick smile, and as slight as she could, Petra returned it before letting it drop and looking back at Rafael.

“The girls have a doctors appointment tomorrow and I need you to take them with you afterwards. I have a meeting tomorrow evening.”

“Really? With you? I didn't hear anything about that.”

“It's sudden. It's just a meeting with possible investor. At 7pm,” Petra then looked right at Jane, her eyebrows bouncing up. And Jane got it. She smiled to show Petra she understood.

“Oh, okay. Shouldn't I be there, though?”

Petra shook her head. “It's nothing major. It's a small business, but a persistent one. Charming little business.”

Petra kept turning her gaze to Jane as she spoke, her face completely impassive, but Jane had to fight her smile. Petra was strangely good at flirting with someone without making it super obvious, but obvious enough.

“Where's the meeting?” Jane asked.

“La Note Dulce.”

If Rafael knew that Jane and Petra were setting up a date with each other right in front of him, he didn't make it obvious. Jane had to match Petra's sublty, but it was difficult because Jane wasn't subtle. At all. So she quickly excused herself to the bathroom and didn't come out until she properly composed herself. It took a good five minutes to get herself to stop grinning like an idiot.

As she was getting ready for the date the next day, she let herself grin like an idiot because she was going on a second (third if one counted their sleepover) with Petra. It still felt surreal, like she was some fever dream and she was going to wake up any moment. She felt like she was just going to go back to a time where she and Petra bickered all the time. But that was all in the past (excluding the occasional bickering) and now, well. It was very different.

Jane knew that framing a same-sex couple with one being the man and one being the woman was problematic, but for someone who had only been in heterosexual relationships, it was difficult to shake those ideas. She didn't feel like a man in any way, and Petra was even more feminine than she was, but Petra also seemed like to take to talk on some of roles a man in a heteronormative relationship would have.

For example, when Petra picked her up for their date, she arrived with flowers, then she opened the car door for Jane. And when they got to the restaurant, she even pulled Jane's chair out for her.

“See, you are sweet,” Jane said after Petra helped push her chair in. “Also a dork.”

Petra frowned. “What makes you say that?”

“You're acting like a boy I went on a date with in high school. He did all those things you did. He even did that thing where you lay your coat on a puddle so the girl doesn't step in the puddle. I've literally never seen a person in real life do that before.”

Petra's ears were turning red and she looked embarrassed. “Should I stop?”

“You can if you want, but honestly, I like it. And it's refreshing coming from a woman. But don't think you have to do it.”

Petra tapped her fingers against her glass of water before picking it up and sipping at it. “I just don't know how to navigate this. We've already talked about how complicated our relationship was.”

“It's likely going to be a little weird. But, I'm willing to give it a shot if you are.”

“Well, I am here right now,” Petra pointed out.

Jane laughed. “That's true.”

“And then, we'll have to tell people at some point. If this goes further.”

Jane's heart started pounding. She couldn't tell if it was an excited heartbeat or a nervous one. She definitely started thinking about her grandmother. Maybe her grandmother wasn't as homophobic as Jane thinks, but she's definitely critical of who Jane dates and she was never a fan of Petra. 

“My mom knows,” Jane blurted out and Petra's eyes went wide.

“What?” 

“She found out when I was getting ready. I couldn't lie to her. She always knows when I'm lying.”

The muscles in Petra's neck clenched. 

“It's fine, Petra, really. She was fine with it.”

“She hates me.”

“She doesn't hate you, Petra.” Jane bit her lip. “Well... No, not hate. Just a little wary.”

Petra took a long drink of water and Jane reached for her hand. When Petra put her hand in Jane's, Jane squeezed. “Really all we have to worry about is my abuela.”

“What about your dad?”

“My dad?” Jane laughed. “I think he'd be pretty excited. I think he likes you, plus, he's super into LGBT rights. Goes to the Miami pride parade every year, but I think that's partially because he likes getting dressed up.”

“I could tell my mother but I think she'd be pissed off no matter what, so,” Petra shrugged like it was no big deal but Jane knew better.

They ordered their food and they chatted about various things. Jane learned a little bit more about Petra's life in Germany and the Czech Republic.

“I don't remember much about Germany, but I think I preferred it to the Czech Republic. The food was better.”

“Would you ever go back? To the Czech Republic?”

Petra sighed thoughtfully. “Possibly. That's part of my daughters' heritage so yes, I suppose so. I know you weren't born there, but would you take Mateo to Venezuela?”

“Absolutely,” Jane nodded. “I know it has its problems, but what place doesn't? I know Rafael wants to take the kids around the world, so hopefully Venezuela is part of that. The girls are welcome to come too.”

Petra smiled at that. “And Mateo is welcome in the Czech Republic.”

Jane grinned. “That's nice to know.”

When their food arrived, they talked some more and even shared meals. As Petra went to take her share of Jane's meal, Jane held out her fork with a piece on the end. Petra looked briefly thrown before opening her mouth and accepting the piece (it was chicken). As Jane watched her, Petra laughed. 

“It's very good,” Petra chuckled around the piece of chicken in her mouth.

So Petra copied Jane and held out her own fork with a piece of lamb on the end. Jane couldn't help but laugh as she took the lamb in her mouth. It was nicely spiced and tasty, but Jane was more focused on how Petra was staring at her. Petra got some more lamb on her fork and held it out. Jane took a slower bite. Then Jane did the same for Petra, chicken and fork extended to her. Jane never noticed how nice Petra's lips were, especially as they wrapped around that piece of chicken.

Then Jane realized what they were doing and her face went hot.

Either Petra could see that Jane was blushing or she also realized what was happening because she took her fork back and went back to eating her meal. But she was definitely eating a lot faster than before. And Jane did the same.

They finished that meal in less than five minutes and as soon as the waitress came by, Petra asked for the check. When that came, Petra threw some cash down (Jane was surprised she carried cash) and promptly stood up.

“Ready?” Petra asked. She extended her hand to Jane, who immediately took it.

Jane noted a couple people looking at them as they walked hand-in-hand out of the restaurant, but Petra didn't seem to care, so Jane didn't either. Petra's face was steely, her chin raised high, and Jane copied her.

The drive back to Petra's seemed to take forever. Petra had one hand on the steering wheel and her right hand on Jane's leg. Then it started to hit Jane; were they about to... She put her hand on top of Petra's and looked at her profile. Petra looked at her out of the corner of her eye and smiled.

When they finally got back to Petra's room, Petra locked the door behind them, and turned to Jane, her face unreadable. Jane stood in the middle of the room, trying to appear calm. A million thoughts were running through her head. The main one being: it was becoming more and more apparent that she and Petra were about to have sex.

Or they were, if she and Petra would actually walk towards each other. Petra was still leaning against the door and Jane was still just standing there.

Jane made the first move, taking a couple steps forward, followed by Petra doing the same until they met in the middle. Petra's eyes wandered up and down Jane's body, her hands reaching out hesitantly until they grabbed Jane's arms and pulled her closer.

Jane had never seen Petra be so tender. It was nice, but Jane also just really wanted to kiss Petra, so she did. Petra continued that tenderness with the kiss, briefly, before diving forward and putting a lot into the kiss. 

One moment they were standing in the middle of the room, the next they were on the couch, Petra on top, her hands furiously running through Jane's hair. Petra's mouth was no longer on Jane's, but rather on neck, her ear, the top of her chest. Jane wasn't really sure what to do at this point, so she just held Petra's close.

After a minute or so, Jane felt guilty about not doing anything, especially with how skillfully Petra was going at Jane's neck (she had found this one spot just an inch or so underneath Jane's ear, and after Jane had moaned, Petra was now putting her attention on that). So Jane's hand started slipping down Petra's body, her hand dipping underneath Petra's dress. 

Just as Jane touched Petra's inner-thigh, Petra froze, for just a moment.

“Petra? Is this okay?”

“Uh, yeah. Yes.”

Jane pulled back and got a look at Petra's face. Her face was flushed and her pupils were completely blown out; almost no blue was visible. But Jane could see the hesitance. 

“What's up?”

“Nothing.”

“Petra.”

Petra sighed and rolled her eyes. “I want this to happen, I do. I really, really do,” she took a deep breath. “But I also want to wait.”

Jane had to fight every urge to not sigh and say, “not again.” But she didn't.

“That's fine with me, but what do you want to wait for?”

“I want you to talk to your family first. And we should tell Rafael. And...” Petra ran the side of her hand up and down Jane's arm. “I have some things I want to figure out first.”

“What kind of things?”

“Us, me, just things.”

Jane smiled and felt this sudden pride for Petra. “Petra, you mean you actually want to figure things out first?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, in the past you would usually act on impulse and do these problematic things. Some things worked out, like your awesome daughters, but other things? Not so much. I'm just happy you want to think about it.”

“I still want to be with you, know that. But I do want wait a little bit before sex.”

Jane kissed Petra. “That's fine.”

“You sure? I mean, I am a very good kisser,” Petra said without any irony. 

“You are,” Jane agreed, grinning.

“You are too. By the way. Very good.” Petra took in a very shaky breath. She let it out slowly. “Um, how about a movie?”

“A movie sounds great.”

They got dressed (separately) and settled in on the couch, both tangled in the same blanket. Petra put in one of the kids' movies, a Disney movie. Something innocent to keep them distracted.

It wasn't the same as the last time they watched a movie together, just a couple days ago. There was no awkward, unsaid things; a lot had already been said. Their relationship had changed drastically. So instead of sitting on opposite ends of the couch like before, they were sitting as close to each other as they could.

As much as Jane wanted to have sex, and as turned on as she still was, she was happy with this. Petra, her hand slipped into Jane's, her head resting on Jane's shoulder. It was nice. Petra fell asleep halfway through the movie and Jane was reminded of when she first realized she had feelings for Petra, who sweet Petra looked.

This time, Jane felt comfortable to stroke her finger against Petra's cheek. The way Petra smiled slightly in her sleep at the gentle touch made Jane's heart swell. 

And then it hit her, this was the first time since Michael that she felt this way about someone. And she really was feeling it, for Petra Solano (it was slowly becoming less weird). But it didn't scare her, not really, and she found herself grinning in the dark as she pulled the sleeping Petra closer to her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Petra is kind of an asshole. I still love her.
> 
> No sex yet, but I promise it will happen

“So you're really serious about this?” Xiomara asked. “About Petra?”

Since Xiomara already sort of knew, Jane felt it wasn't a big deal that she talk to her mother about it. She needed to talk to someone about it, and she wasn't ready to tell Alba and Rogelio (for very different reasons).

“Yeah, Ma.”

Xiomara shook her head. “It's still a little weird for me. Not because she's a woman, but because she's Petra,” Xiomara quickly added. “Whatever gender you're with, it's fine with me. But Petra?”

Jane half-laughed, half-sighed. “I know, I know. But you can't help who you like.”

“True. But Petra?”

“Ma, no matter how many times you say that isn't going to change anything. Yes, Petra.”

“I'm sorry, Janey, but I still don't see how.”

Jane took her mother's hand and clutched it. She licked her lips. “Petra is an incredibly complicated person, sometimes infuriatingly so. But I've seen how much she's changed, how much she's grown. Yeah, she's backtracked a lot. One step forward, two steps back should be her life motto. But, I always thought she was a good person, deep down, and I was right. And as a mother? She's awesome. I'm just really proud of her.”

Xiomara's expression was tender before she pulled Jane into a hug. “I still don't completely understand, but I promise I will.”

“Thanks, Ma.”

“You're gonna have to tell Abuela, though.”

Jane sighed into her mother's shoulder. “I know.”

“I think it'll be okay. She's not as... uptight as she used to be. Remember, she was only slightly judgmental about my abortion and you sleeping around.”

“Ma, I wasn't sleeping around. I slept with Fabian. One person.” Xiomara didn't know about that random girl.

“For you, that's sleeping around.”

Jane stayed in her mother's arms for a while. She only got up because Rafael texted her that he wanted to talk to her.

“Shit,” Jane said under her breath.

“What?”

“I don't know, but I think Rafael knows.”

“How? Petra wouldn't have told him, she doesn't seem like a blabber-mouth.”

“She isn't. And Rafael's not that observant.”

“So? Why do you think he knows?”

Jane stared at her phone, trying to somehow read Rafael's tone in the text. She couldn't. “I don't know.”

“Just go talk to him.”

So she did. He was sitting at his table as she let herself in. To her relief, he smiled at her as she walked in.

“Jane, I'm glad you came. I have some news for you.”

“Oh yeah?”

He turned his head towards his bedroom and motioned to someone Jane couldn't see. A tall redhead slowly came out, smiling sheepishly. She stopped just beside Rafael.

“Jane, this is Frances. Frances, this is Jane.”

“Jane,” Frances smiled and held out her hand to Jane. “It's a pleasure to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you.”

Jane took Frances' hand and found her hand being gripped rather tightly. 

“Sorry,” Frances said, pulling back her hand.

“Frankie is a professional volley ball player,” Rafael explained.

“So, are you two...” Jane pointed between them.

Frances looked at Rafael, who nodded. “We are. Jane, I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but that trip I went on with the kids, Frankie went with us. The kids love her.”

“Ooh, so that's who Frankie was. Mateo kept talking about her, but, I'm sorry, I thought she was a little girl. Someone he met on the trip.”

“I told him to not tell you about her, so I guess that was as vague as he could get.”

They settled down on the couch and Frankie told a little bit about herself. She had been playing volley ball practically since she could walk, and had been professional since she was seventeen. 

“And how did you two meet?”

“Well,” Rafael started. “I had a meeting in Atlanta a couple weeks ago and there was a volley ball tournament just next door, so.”

“That's not completely how it went,” Frankie explained. “He went to the game, but we didn't meet until that night. He recognized me at a restaurant and we started talking.”

“And just like that?”

“Just like that,” Rafael said softly.

“Wow, well,” Jane put her hand on Rafael's knee. “Congrats.”

“So.” Rafael shifted a little. “You're not upset?”

“Why would I be?”

“Well,” Rafael scratched his head. “It seemed like you were... developing feelings for me or something, not too long ago.”

Yes, that. Jane had admitted to herself that she feel something for Rafael, even pretty recently. But she decided it wasn't love, at least not in the sense that everyone thought. She had always loved Rafael, as a friend, as the father of her son, but it wasn't like it was nearly six years ago. If she had truly loved Rafael, in the romantic sense, when she was pregnant, that was in the past.

“It wasn't... what you thought it was. It wasn't what I thought it was.”

She glanced at Frankie, who was watching them intently. Frankie then noticed the glance and moved to stand up.

“This is personal, I should go.”

“No.” Jane's hand shot out, holding Frankie in place. “If you're going to be with Rafael, you should know about the history between me and him. And Petra.”

“Raf,” Jane turned back to him. “I love you. Really. But not like that, I promise you.”

Rafael looked past Jane for a moment. Then he nodded. “I understand. What about Petra?”

“What about her?”

“How do you think she'll feel about this?” He gestured to Frankie.

Jane tried to not smile. “I think she'll be okay with it.”

“How do you know that?”

She did smile this time. “I know her a little bit better than you think I do.”

Rafael squinted at her. “What does that mean.”

“It means what it means, Rafael. Anyway. I have to go home, I have dinner plans with my abuela. Frankie, it was great meeting you. Let's get lunch sometime?”

Before Frankie could respond, Jane quickly hugged Rafael, then left the room. She almost blew it, she almost told him. She could imagine Petra's face; that slightly bug-eyed stare, those lips pursed. But she didn't. She just had to be more careful next time.

But right now she had more things to think about; she had to talk to Alba. It was either going to go really well or really badly. Regardless of the outcome, Jane was stressed. She debated asking Petra to come with her, but decided it was too much.

“Jane, we live together, why are we meeting like this?” Alba asked after they both sat down at the kitchen table. “Not that I don't like this, of course. But...”

“Abuela...” Jane reached forward and clasped both of Alba's hands. “You know how you usually trust my judgment and love me unconditionally?”

Alba narrowed her eyes. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!”

“Jane. There's clearly something you want to say.”

“It's nothing bad. Well, it might be depending on your point of view, but for me, it's good. It's great.” Jane took a deep breath. “I've started to see someone?”

“Dating?”

Jane nodded. 

“Who is he?”

Again, with those male pronouns. She tried to not roll her eyes. “She.”

“Pardon?”

“It's a she and she is Petra.”

The silence that followed seemed to stretch forever and Jane wanted to take it all back. She wanted to wait and tell Alba a different day. Not today. She stared thinking about the moment before she said anything and she and her abuela were still talking. But she did say it and it was out there and she was going to have to deal with...

“Is she nice to you?”

“Sorry?”

“Petra, is she nice to you? I know how mean she can be. I don't want you to be with anyone who treats you badly.”

 

Jane swallowed the lump in her throat. “She's very nice to me. In her own Petra way. She doesn't always do emotion well but... You're not mad?”

“Surprised, of course. But mad? No.”

“I just thought... I figured you weren't completely supportive of same-sex stuff. I mean, you're Catholic and...”

“Old?” Alba offered. She was smiling and Jane's heart flipped. “I have had my opinions of it in the past and I still struggle with it sometimes. Just like I struggle with... abortion. Or sex before marriage. But Jane,” Alba put her hands on either side of her face, “God creates us in His image and He does not make mistakes. Yes, human beings have flaws, but this is not one of those cases.”

“Oh, Abuela,” Jane said tearfully. She threw her arms around Alba and cried into her shoulder. “I'm so happy you said that.”

After a couple minutes, Alba asked, “but Petra?”

“Abuela, don't start. Ma already asked me that. Yes, Petra. To summarize, she's nicer than people think, she's loyal and smart and surprisingly sweet.”

“You love her.”

“I... yes, I do.”

Jane could see those pursed lips, just for a moment, before she smiled and hugged Jane. “Te amo, Jane.”

She peppered kisses all over Jane's face before letting go. 

“It's different; I will admit that it's different. But I want you to be happy, Jane. She makes you happy, yes?”

“Very. I mean, she drives me crazy sometimes, but... I don't know. Yes, she makes me happy, Abuela.”

Alba hugged her again, tightly. She whispered something in Jane's ear, something Jane couldn't hear.

“What?”

“I would like you to invite her over for dinner.”

Jane said 'yes', but that somehow terrified her more than actually telling Alba. Petra could be charming (she worked in customer service) but she was also very impatient, and if she felt like she was being judged, she could easily lash out. She could see it now; someone makes a passive aggressive comment and that tendency of Petra's to fight back comes out.

Telling Petra went exactly how she imagined.

“Jane, I can't. I mean, yes, I'll have to go to dinner with them eventually. But they're not my biggest fan.”

Petra had been pacing since Jane told her and it was making Jane dizzy. She grabbed Petra's hand.

“Petra, they have been so supportive of this.”

“Yeah, because they love you. They don't love me.”

“No, but they like you. Well, more than they used to,” Jane corrected herself after Petra side-eyed her. “But they also don't know you that well. That's why Abuela wants to have this dinner, so they do know you. They'd wanted to have dinner with you no matter who you were. They like meeting who I'm dating, even if they technically already know you.”

Petra's whole body was stiff and she wouldn't meet Jane's eye. Jane recognized that look. She wrapped her arms around Petra.

“I want them to see what I see when I look at you.”

“Jane-”

“Well, okay, maybe not what I see because, well...” Jane looked up Petra up and down until Petra smiled. “Anyway, I just want them to know why I like you so much. Yeah, they've been supportive but I think it was to be nice to me. I want them to really see it.”

“And if they don't like me.”

Jane didn't want to think about it, and as much as she wanted to tell Petra that she was being silly and that of course they'd like her, it felt like it would be a lie.

“We'll figure it out.”

Petra was a nervous wreck the whole time she was getting ready (which had started about four hours ago) and Jane wasn't much better. Yes, her family loved her and trusted her judgment, but she also knew how they felt about Petra. The last thing she wanted was her family hating the woman she was dating, even more than they already did.

“What should I wear? Nothing too revealing,” Petra mumbled to herself.

“Petra, you never wear revealing clothes. You have so many nice clothes, just pick something.”

“What did you usually wear when you were meeting a boyfriend's family?”

Petra laughed. “Jane, you do remember who I dated, right? Milos, who I don't think had a family, Lachlan, who only had a mother but she lived out of state so I only met her briefly—she wasn't a fan of me either—then Rafael... Well, you know his family. And the Villanueva's are so much more pleasant than the Solano's.”

“Then it should be no problem, right?” Jane offered, trying to be helpful. “They won't care about what you wear. I promise.”

Petra sighed and went back to pushing her clothes around on the hanger. She eventually settled on a business-casual outfit; slim-fitting pants, a blue shirt with a black blazer over it.

Jane bit down any criticisms she had (she almost wanted to point out to Petra that she wasn't going on a job interview) and took Petra's hand. “You look cute.”

Petra flicked her hair off her shoulder. “Thank you.”

Jane reached up and brushed Petra's hair back. She studied Petra's face. This was the closest she had ever seen Petra's face at this angle. Her nose, her lips, the little dimple in her chin. When she looked back up into those eyes, she found Petra studying her just as hard.

“You're so beautiful, Jane,” Petra said in almost a whisper. “Sometimes I still can't believe this is happening. I woke up this morning thinking it was a dream, then I remembered and...”

Petra didn't finish her thought with words, instead she kissed Jane. Slowly and deeply. She cupped Jane's face as she did so, her thumbs stroking Jane's cheekbones. Their noses brushed up against each other as she kissed and when they broke apart, they didn't go very far, the tips of their noses still pressed together.

“We have to go,” Jane said softly.

“I know. I wish we could stay here and, I don't know.” Petra took a step back, her pupils huge. “We could...”

Jane licked her lips. “I thought you wanted to wait until we told everyone.”

“It's pretty much just Rafael left.”

“And my dad.”

“You don't think he already knows? I'm pretty sure your mom told him.”

“I don't think she- Yeah, probably. I mean, I'm all for it but you did say you wanted to wait.”

“That was just a stupid thing I said. I say stupid things all the time.”

Petra's hand was now on Jane's arm and was rubbing it up and down. Jane swallowed. “You're just saying that because you're turned on.”

“And?”

It was a compelling argument, especially since Jane felt the same. But, of course, she then got a text from Xiomara: 'where r u guys? Ur dads here'

“So, my dad probably knows. They're waiting.”

Petra combed her fingers through her hair and sighed. “Okay. But this conversation isn't over.”

“Oh, it's definitely not.”

As soon as they got into the car, Petra tensed up again and nothing Jane did—gentle words, rubbing her hand—helped. Jane really wanted to help, but sometimes Petra had to work it out on her own. Plus, once Petra saw how nice her family was, she could relax. Hopefully.

At the door, Jane was greeted with a tight hug from her father, then Alba, then Xiomara. Petra hung back.

“Petra, how are you?” Xiomara asked.

“I'm good, Xiomara. How are you?”

Xiomara responded with an “I'm good” and silence fell over all of them. It was about thirty seconds before Rogelio said something.

“I was a little surprised when I heard you were coming, Petra. It is nice that you are here, but...”

So Rogelio didn't know. As Jane looked at Xiomara, she realized, her mother wanted her to tell her father herself. She was sort of hoping Xiomara had already told Rogelio, because now she had to deal with that.

“Yes, well, I've been wanting to come back since I had Thanksgiving dinner here.”

“That's right! You did have dinner here! I completely forgot about that,” Rogelio exclaimed. “Well, welcome back.”

“Where are the kids?” Xiomara asked.

“With Rafael. He's a little bit confused why we keep asking him to watch the kids. I mean, he's happy because he doesn't always get to be alone with all three.”

“So he doesn't know yet?”

Jane shook her head.

“Know what?” Rogelio asked. 

Petra cleared her throat. Jane laughed awkwardly. “Uh. Why don't we sit down?”

They all gathered in the living room. Petra sat next to Jane, but she left about a foot between them. Rogelio sat in the chair that is closest to Jane and leaned forward, his face already surprised before she even said anything.

“Dad, you know how I've been trying to figure things how, relationship wise, after Michael?”

“Yes, and it has been painful to watch.”

“Well. I'm glad things didn't work out with Fabian, or I decided to not pursue things with Rafael.”

Rogelio frowned. “Jane, do not set yourself short, you are a wonderful woman. You will find love.”

“I know, Dad. Because I already have.”

At this point, Jane took Petra's hand and put it in her lap. When she looked over at Petra, Petra's eyes were wide and she was having trouble looking at anyone who wasn't Jane. Jane then looked back Rogelio, who had slow recognition creeping into his face.

“You... and Petra?”

Jane nodded.

“Petra.” It was him processing, but Petra looked up at him anyway. Jane couldn't tell if it was her own hand or Petra's that was sweating, maybe both.

“Oh, Jane!” He then got up and instead of hugging Jane, he hugged Petra, who froze. Petra looked over Rogelio's shoulder at Jane. She looked mildly terrified and Jane continued to hold her hand.

“You knew about this?” He asked when he finally let go. He was looking at Xiomara and Alba.

“She told us yesterday. Well. I knew before then. I caught her getting ready for a date and she fessed up.”

“Why didn't you tell me?”

“Because it wasn't my place to say anything,” Xiomara snapped.

“Dad,” Jane said slowly. “I just didn't want you making a big deal out of this. So I'm dating a woman, so what?”

Rogelio kneeled in front of Jane. “It is not because she is a woman, Jane. It is because she's Petra. No offense.”

Jane really did think Petra was going to be offended, but instead she shrugged and said, “none taken.”

“I mean, yes, it is pretty exciting you are dating a woman. So, I have a gay father and a gay daughter. Wonderful!”

Petra stood up so suddenly that Rogelio almost fell over. He quickly scrambled to his feet and threw Jane a very confused look.

“Don't assume people's sexualities.” This was Petra, who had gone from not being offended to looking very offended.

“Petra, I'm sorry--”

Petra cut him off with one stern look. “Don't assume anyone's sexuality. Jane never said she was gay, I never said I was gay.”

“I didn't say you--”

“Don't turn this into one of your Twitter hashtag campaigns. This is a very personal thing and is really none of your business.”

Rogelio looked at Jane, pleadingly. Petra had stood up and Jane tried to pull her back down.

“Petra, calm down,” Jane whispered.

“No. I told you this was a bad idea, involving your family in this.”

“Hey, we have been completely supportive of this,” Xiomara said. She was starting to look annoyed and Jane's stomach was starting to hurt. This was the opposite of how she wanted it to go (but also how she sort of expected it).

“Oh, how nice of you,” Petra said sarcastically. 

Xiomara was now on her feet. “Petra, we welcomed you into this house after all the shit you pulled on this family, but if you're going to talk to us like this, I think you should go.”

“Gladly.” Petra shook her hand away from Jane's grasp and stalked out of the house.

Jane turned to her family, her mouth open. “What the hell was that?”

“She completely lost it, Jane. You said we'd see a nice side of her; where?” Xiomara got up and walked over to Alba, who had been very quiet. She rubbed her mother's shoulder and looked at the door, angrily.

Jane looked at the door as well. She heard the car door open and shut, but didn't hear the car start. 

“I won't pretend I knew what that was, but you didn't have to yell at her.”

Xiomara laughed. “Uh, yeah I did. She completely blew up at your father for no reason.”

“There had to be a reason, Ma.”

“Really? Because Petra acting irrationally is so out of character.

Jane turned to Rogelio, who still looked a little shaken. “Dad, I'm sorry. You didn't mean to upset her.”

“I thought I was being completely supportive.”

Jane pulled her father into a hug and held him. “I know, you were. Petra just... has some... I don't know. I'll talk to her. Please, don't let this sour your opinion of her.

“It was already a pretty low bar,” Xiomara said quietly.

Jane went out to the car and found Petra sitting in the drivers seat, staring at the steering wheel. She quietly slipped into the car. Neither of them said anything. Petra barely moved.

Jane almost jumped when Petra said, “I'm sorry,” out of nowhere. 

“Petra, it's... okay.”

“It's not. I yelled at your family. I did the opposite of what I should have done.”

“While I didn't like you yelling at my family, you must have had a reason, right?” 

Petra ran her hands over the steering wheel and refused to look at Jane. Jane wanted so badly to reach out and touch Petra, even just a hand on her arm, but decided she didn't need that right now.

“It's stupid.”

“Petra, I doubt that.”

Petra's hands gripped and ungripped the steering wheel before letting go and turning to Jane. “Something about hearing your dad say 'gay' really set me off. It just... triggered something in me.”

“Okay,” Jane said slowly.

“See? It's stupid.”

“Petra, no.” Jane finally touched Petra; her hand on Petra's forearm. “There must be some reason why you reacted like that, why hearing 'gay' made you do that. Have you ever considered yourself gay?”

“I didn't really know what that was until I was a teenager. If anyone was gay in school, they kept it to themselves.”

“That doesn't really answer my question.”

“I knew this girl in school, who I really liked. More than I realized. I came home one day and told my mother I wanted to marry this girl, because it didn't seem strange to me.”

Jane sensed where this was going, but she asked anyway. “What happened?”

“She smacked me and very sternly told me I can't marry a girl, that girls don't marry girls. She told me I was going to find a rich man to marry and... that was it. I never questioned it and told myself that anything I felt for any other women was purely platonic.”

“Petra, you should've told me. I went through something similar, remember?”

Petra's head dropped and she looked almost shy. “I know. I didn't think it really bothered me until I heard that word. I don't know if I am... that.”

“You don't have to call yourself anything if you don't want.”

“I know.”

“And, if you decide to call yourself anything, it's not permanent.”

“I know,” Petra said again. Then she lifted her head up. “What about you? Do you consider yourself anything?”

Jane, being herself, had thought about it. She had researched it, too. Obsessively. 

“I think I'm bisexual,” Jane stated simply. “I mean, it makes sense. I like guys—liked, because I'm not looking for any guy now—and now that I think about it, I have liked girls. So, I think I'm a classic, textbook bisexual.”

Jane let out a sharp breath. It felt good to actually say it, to say it aloud, especially to Petra.

“Congrats,” Petra said softly. Petra picked up Jane's hand and pressed it to her lips. “I'm sorry I yelled at your family like that. Do you think they'll forgive me?”

Jane rubbed the side of Petra's lips with her thumb. “Yeah. But you'll have to apologize. I can't do that for you.”

“I know.”

“And if my dad ever gets overbearing, just know that's just how he is. But I'll tell him to tone it down.”

“I know, but I think I'll be okay. I think it's out of my system.”

They went back inside and three sets of eyes were on them. Jane held Petra's hand, while Petra sighed and turned to Rogelio.

“Rogelio, I'm sorry I yelled at you. You were being very nice and I had no reason to yell. At all.”

She removed her hand from Jane's and walked over to Rogelio, who looked a little nervous. “Hearing you say 'gay' made me react poorly. I'm really sorry.”

Rogelio looked past Petra, at Jane, then back at Petra. “It is okay. I too know what it is like to act passionately. Maybe not in the way you did, but...”

Petra nodded then looked at Xiomara, who still looked very irritated. “Xiomara, I'm sorry I yelled at you too. There's a lot of history between us and I think it will take some time for us to be able to trust each other.”

“That's for sure,” Xiomara mumbled.

“I can't force anything and I can't make you like me. I'm not good at making people like me.” Petra glanced at Jane. “I still think she's crazy for liking me.”

This earned a chuckle from Xiomara. 

“And Alba. Mrs. Villanueva.” She turned to Jane's grandmother, who had been avoiding Petra's eye for a while. “I was invited into your home and I acted poorly. I was rude. Lo siento.”

Alba looked at Jane, then stood up. She walked past Petra and whispered to Jane, “tell her that I forgive her, but if she does something like that again, I may not be so forgiving.”

Jane hesitantly repeated her grandmother's words back to Petra and Petra nodded. “I understand.”

“Then, that is that,” Alba said. “It's time for dinner.”

Jane family went on ahead into the living room, while Petra stood back. Jane put her arm around Petra.

“See? That wasn't so bad.”

“I shouldn't have yelled in the first place.”

Jane pulled Petra closer. “Yes, but you did, and that's over.”

“I think they just forgave me for your sake.”

Jane didn't say anything, because it was likely true. Her family did a lot of things for her, and Jane wouldn't put it past them to forgive Petra just for her.

Dinner wasn't terribly awkward. Considering. Rogelio was more hesitant, more cautious, when asking Petra questions. But Petra had seemed to relax and taking Rogelio's increasingly prying questions in stride. There were a couple times where Jane was worried either Petra or her mother was going to snap at the other, but it never came.

When the evening ended, Rogelio did hug Petra. Neither Xiomara nor Alba did, though, but they did pat her on the shoulder. It was a start.

As Jane said her own goodbyes to her family, she realized something; she was leaving with Petra, even though she lived here, with her grandmother. They had only been technically dating for, what, a week? And already she was going with Petra. She had heard of that U-Haul joke, when it came to lesbians and while she didn't identify as a lesbian, it still seemed to be very obvious. They hadn't even had sex yet and already they were sort-of living together. It made sense, since the Marbella was where Jane worked, her son's father lived there, and now her girlfriend and her children lived there.

“Jane? Are you ready to go home?” Petra didn't seem to notice how strange this was, or if she did, she didn't show it.

Jane nodded, smiling. “Yeah, I am.”


	5. Chapter 5

It felt like a dream. It had to be a dream. Jane had imagined this moment for a long as she could remember and now it was here. No, this wasn't about Petra because Jane had only known Petra for about five years. That was a separate thing.

This was actually about Jane being asked to going on a brief press tour for her book. That included being on TV. Jane was actually going to be on TV! When she got the call she legitimately thought it was a prank call. From whom, she didn't know. She didn't know anyone who would be that much of an asshole, so then she thought it was a stranger who had somehow gotten her number. If she had actually looked at her phone she would see it was clearly her publisher.

Then when she realized it wasn't a joke, she threw her phone. Luckily she was on a bed at the time and it just landed on the bed. Actually, she threw it at Petra, who was still asleep, then it fell on the bed. 

To go back for a moment, what Jane had actually heard on the phone was, “Jane, they want you!”

“What?” 

“A couple different stations in Florida want you to talk about your book!”

This was when she threw her phone. Petra half woke up and lifted up her head.

“What happened?”

Jane didn't answer Petra as she picked her phone back up. “What was that?”

“Dude, Jane, they want you. NBC6, CBS10 in Tampa Bay. A couple others. They went you to talk about your book! On TV!”

Jane stared off into space, her mouth hanging open. She felt a prod in her side and looked over at Petra, who raised her eyebrows questioningly. 

“Uh, I'm interested but how long will this be? And how far will I have to go?”

“Two weeks, tops. And Tampa Bay is probably the farthest.”

“Jane? What's going on?” Petra whispered.

“Yeah, uh, yeah! I'll do it!”

“Great! I'll text you more details. The first one will be on Tuesday morning, here in Miami.”

He hung up and Jane turned her phone around in her hands before turning back to Petra.

“Is everything okay? Your cheeks are turning red.”

Jane pulled Petra's hand into her lap and traced that one vein that always sticks up on the top of Petra's hand. “I'm going on a press tour. On TV.”

A smile broke out on Petra's face. “What? Seriously?”

Jane nodded vigorously. “Miami, Sarasota, Tampa Bay. Maybe others. I'm actually gonna go on TV and talk about a book that I wrote!”

Petra threw her arms around Jane and squeezed her. “I'm really happy for you, Jane.”

“Thank you.” She kissed Petra on the cheek before pulling away. “I need to call Ma and Abuela.”

Petra let her go and Jane went to do just that. There was a lot of screaming from her mother, some tearful congratulations from Alba, then Rogelio saying how now there were two TV personalities in the family. Jane reminded him that it wasn't the first time she had been on TV (there was the whole pregnant virgin thing that felt so long ago).

She and Petra met up with Rafael for their regular Saturday brunch, so Jane told him too. He hugged her, then told the twins what was going on.

“Congratulations, Aunt Jane!” Elsa squealed.

“Yeah, Congratulations!” Anna repeated. Jane was glad she had known the twins all their lives because otherwise she probably wouldn't be able to tell them apart. 

“Mommy, can I be on TV, too?” Mateo asked.

“I think it'll be just me, sweetie,” Jane said, squatting down to meet his eye-level. She smoothed out his hair.

“I'd be the cutest kid on TV ever!”

Jane laughed and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. “Definitely!”

“Since you'll be traveling, are you bringing Mateo? Do you want me to come along?” Rafael asked.

Jane quickly glanced over at Petra, who was pretending to not be involved with the conversation. She and Petra had discussed it already; the plan was that Jane was going to leave Mateo with either Rafael or her family, and Petra was going to come.

“Uh...”

Jane was glancing between Rafael and Petra—Petra was now looking at Jane, waiting to hear was she was going to say.

“P-Petra is coming with me,” Jane half-mumbled.

“Excuse me? Petra?”

Jane almost, almost, took Petra's hand before remembering they hadn't told Rafael yet. Maybe this was the moment? 

Petra was suddenly right at Jane's side. “Yes, she invited me. We're friends.”

“I mean, yeah, I guess you are friends. Though I never see you two hang out outside of the brunch.”

“Not that it's any of your business but we spend more time together than you think,” Petra snapped.

Rafael raised his hands. “Alright, alright. So you need me to watch the kids?”

“Well, the first interview is in Miami, so both of you can come to that. But after that, yeah. If you don't mind.”

“Of course not. I love these guys.” Rafael ruffled Mateo's hair.

“Mommy's gonna be on TV. But she said I can't be,” Mateo pouted.

Rafael chuckled. “Because it's about Mommy's book. If it was about you, of course you could be on TV.”

Jane then had an idea. She leaned over towards her son. “How about when I do the interview here, in Miami, you can come to the studio with Daddy and Aunt Petra. I'll ask the news people if you can come on for a little bit.”

“Really?” The way Mateo's face lit up melted Jane's heart.

“Yes, if you're good. No hitting your sisters.”

“I promise! Watch how good I am!” Mateo climbed onto his chair at the table and gently folded his napkin into his lap, like Rafael showed him. “See?”

“Very good, Mateo,” Rafael said.

Jane and Petra sat beside each other, like they always did. While Jane was eating, and listening to Mateo ramble on about something. She was listening to her son's story, even though she had heard it before, but then she felt something brush against her hand. She glanced down as subtly as she could and saw Petra's pinky stroking the side of Jane's hand. Jane closed the difference by taking Petra's hand in her own. She looked at Petra's profile and saw her smile.

They stayed like that until the kids finished eating and left the table. Rafael never saw them.

The night before her interview with NBC6, Jane didn't sleep well. Petra tried everything she could; backrubs, a bath, gentle music. Nothing worked.

“I'm just too nervous. I'm excited, but... I can't stop thinking about all the stuff that could happen.”

“What could happen?”

Jane started to list off what exactly she imagined happening. She could throw up, pass out, forget what to say, develop some twitch. “What if they bring up my pregnant virgin stuff? I mean, I've mostly accepted that that happened, but I'd rather not talk about it more.”

Petra didn't say anything right away. It was nearly 2am and Jane was surprised she was still awake. “Those are all possible things, but,” Petra put her hands on Jane's shoulders, “I know you'll be great.”

“What if--”

“No what if. You're going to kick ass. And if they ask you questions you don't want to answer, don't answer. Or divert the question to something else.”

They curled up in each others' arms after that and it didn't take long for Petra to fall asleep. It did for Jane, though, who was still struggling with her over-active brain. She knew she was being silly, she knew she would do well, but it didn't stop that one part of her brain from telling her she'd mess up. It took until 3am for her to turn off that part of her brain long enough to get to sleep.

Coffee was her best friend that morning. She couldn't stomach anything to eat, though, so the coffee plus her nerves plus her empty stomach was making her very jittery. 

Rafael and the kids joined them as they made their way to the studio. In the car, Petra, who was driving, kept looking at Jane, and Jane could see her hand twitching. It took a couple minutes for Jane to realize why; Petra wanted to hold her hand, but Rafael was sitting right behind them. They really did need to tell him.

It was blur after they got to the studio and Jane was whisked away to hair and makeup. Before she knew it she was sitting behind the desk, waiting for the cameras to come up. She was given a couple notes, about where to look, what she should avoid saying, and to keep her answers relatively short.

The newscaster sat down beside her and gave her a polite nod. Jane swallowed, looked over, and locked eyes with Petra who was standing off to the side. The twins were holding her hands, while Mateo was holding Rafael's. Petra nodded at her and mouthed something, but Jane couldn't read her lips.

“Three, two, one, and...” The light on the camera came on and Jane heard the newscaster took a deep breath beside her.

“And welcome back. This morning we will be joined by new author Jane Villanueva, author of 'Snow Falling.' The story is based off of Miss Villanueva's own life and her beautiful and tragic time with her late husband. Jane, welcome.”

“Thanks for having me.”

“Jane, do you mind if I call you Jane, I'm just going to ask. Was it hard writing this?”

“Of course it was hard. My husband died, just as we were getting our lives together started. He was just about to go to law school.”

“What made you want to write this story?”

Jane kept her eyes on Petra as she spoke. “It was partially therapeutic for, being able to get out how I was feeling through word. It did take me a while to get started because it was still so fresh, and even when I did start to write it was incredibly painful. It just made it more real.” Jane paused a moment, fighting the lump forming in her throat. “But, it did help. And my hope was to also help other people going through this. I wanted people to know that the end of one story doesn't mean the end completely. Life is just a series of chapters, and unfortunately, my chapter with Michael had to end. It was cruel and I'm still angry about it, but that's how life is.”

“Speaking of new chapters, what about your love life now? Are you seeing anyone new?”

Jane could see Petra's eyes widen from across the room.

“Anyone new?” Jane laughed a little bit. “I don't have a boyfriend.”

The newscaster didn't pick up on the hint and moved on. Jane couldn't read Petra's expression.

“Now, I've been told you brought your adorable son, who was conceived through very unconventional methods.”

“Yeah, Mateo. Can I bring him up?” After the newscaster nodded, Jane gestured to Mateo to come up. He ran and jumped into Jane's lap.

“Hello, Mateo. Are you proud of your mom and her book?”

“Yeah, but I can't read.”

“Not that I'd want him to read it anyway,” Jane half-mumbled to the camera.

“Is your dad here too?”

Mateo nodded and pointed at Rafael. “He's over there. And my sisters and my Aunt Petra.”

“I didn't know you had sisters, Mateo. And who is this Aunt Petra? Your dad's sister?”

Mateo fervently shook his head. “Anna and Ellie are Daddy and Aunt Petra's kids and um, Aunt Petra is Mommy's best friend.”

The newscaster looked at Jane, who said, “it's a long story.”

“So are your mommy and daddy dating? Or is your daddy dating this Petra?”

Mateo frowned. “That's a personal question.”

Jane did agree with her son, but she needed to give them something. “Neither of us are dating Rafael. Again, it's a long story.”

Mateo then tugged on Jane's shirt and whispered something to her. “What was that, Mateo?”

“I have to poop.”

“We're out of time anyway,” the newscaster said. “Jane, and Mateo, thank you so much for being here. 'Snow Falling' is out in most major bookstores.”

As Jane and Mateo left the stage, Rafael hugged Jane, while Petra hung back.

“You did so well, Jane. I'm so proud of you.”

“Thanks, Raf. Um, could you take Mateo to the bathroom?”

“Sure, Jane.”

After Rafael left with Mateo (the twins followed), Jane turned to Petra. They were still in public so they couldn't really do anything; Jane didn't want that interviewer snooping around. Petra did hug Jane, though, because friends can do that.

“I'm also very proud of you, Jane. I want to kiss you so badly,” Petra whispered as quietly as she could.

“Me too.”

“And I want to...” Petra exhaled sharply and broke their hug apart. “Anyway, I'm proud of you.”

Jane could see the darkness in Petra's eyes and Jane felt the same. It was Petra's idea to wait until they told everyone and Rafael was the only one left. Except it had been a couple weeks and they hadn't told him yet. Jane was used to waiting for sex, but it was starting to feel a little bit ridiculous.

“We need to tell him,” Jane said.

“I know. When you're done with your tour, we'll tell him.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Jane and Petra left the next morning. Mateo screamed and cried because he wanted to be on TV again, and Ellie and Anna hugged him until he calmed down. Their first stop was Tampa, first thing the next morning, so they wanted some time in Tampa.

“I want to go to the Columbia, get some Cuban food,” Jane said. “I bet it'll be busy, though.”

Petra smirked as she stared out at the highway ahead of them. “It's a good thing that I made reservations tonight then.”

“You didn't.”

Petra's eyes drifted from looking at the road to look at Jane. “I did. I remember you saying you wanted to go there sometime.”

Even though Petra looked back ahead, Jane stared at Petra's profile for a couple minutes. It was a simple act, making a reservation, but Jane was still learning things about Petra. She knew Petra was sweet, deep down, but it was nice actually seeing it.

“It's too bad we aren't having sex yet, 'cause...” Jane was half-joking. She could see Petra's knuckles turn white. 

Petra didn't say anything, nor did Jane. Then. “I'd be willing to give that up...”

“What?”

“That whole... waiting until we tell everyone. I mean, I was mostly worried about your family. I don't really care about what Rafael thinks.”

They both turned to each other. Both of them also almost forgot that Petra was driving, until Petra had to aggressively turn the wheel back to where they were supposed to be.

“We'll talk about it more at the hotel,” Petra said quietly.

They talked some more about the interview—Petra said Jane did great in Miami, so she should probably stick to what she said then—but Jane couldn't stop thinking about their previous conversation. Petra rarely joked so it couldn't be a joke; and even if Petra joked, she wouldn't joke about that.

Jane brought it up again as they walked into their hotel room. 

“Petra, I think--”

But she didn't have time to finish the thought as Petra spun around, grabbed Jane's face, and kissed her hard. It was a messy kiss, their teeth knocking together, but as Jane felt the hint of a tongue, she didn't care.

“It's so hard sleeping next to you and not doing anything,” Petra whispered feverishly, breaking their kiss just long enough to say that. 

Petra slowly guided Jane towards the bed, their lips firmly locked together. Jane lost her balance when the back of her knees hit the bed and they both tumbled onto the bed, giggling.

“Do you really think I did a good job, you know, in my interview?”

Petra brushed the hair out of Jane's face and smiled. It was so surprisingly tender that Jane had to kiss Petra again.

“Yes, you did wonderfully.”

Jane laced her fingers with Petra's. “Petra, I'm sorry I didn't say anything about us being together. It's just... Rafael was there, staring at me and I didn't want to turn our relationship into this big thing. I mean, it is a big thing, but it's not anyone else's business and I didn't want to--”

Petra didn't kiss her to stop her from talking, but she did put two fingers up against Jane's lips.

“I would've done the same thing.”

“Yeah?”

Petra nodded. This time she kissed Jane, slowly. Her fingers found their way into Jane's hair, massaging her scalp. While they kissed, Jane flipped them so she was on top and Petra didn't say anything about it. In fact, she seemed to love it because her other hand pulled Jane even closer.

“Are you sure...” Jane pulled back slightly, “you want to do this?”

Petra looked at Jane like she was crazy.

“Jane Gloriana Villanueva, take my shirt off.”

“Yes ma'am.”

Jane slid her hands up Petra's sides, pulling her shirt off with it. She traced the slight stretch-marks on Petra's stomach, coming up to the underside of Petra's breasts and leaned down to press a kiss to the top of one of them.

Jane somehow didn't notice that Petra's hand had moved underneath Jane's shirt and was already halfway through undoing her bra. It fell off inside Jane's shirt.

“Even more impressive if you could completely remove my bra without me noticing.”

“I'm not that good. Yet.”

It was the first time that Jane noticed the huskiness in Petra's voice and Jane shivered when she did. The rational part of her brain (which was the majority of her brain) was telling her to take it slow, enjoy this moment. Then there was the other part, this animal part (usually the minority, but right now it was the loudest) telling her to just shove her hand down Petra's pants and get it started.

Jane's finger flicked at the button Petra's shorts, easily popping it open. Her hand started to slip down, over Petra's underwear. She was barely making an contact with Petra when Petra exhaled loudly and pushed her hips against Jane's hand.

Petra grabbed the back of Jane's head and pushed her into Petra's lips. Then she whispered into Jane's ear, “touch me.”

Jane stroked Petra a couple times through her underwear, already feeling how wet Petra was.

“Ó můj bože...” Petra muttered.

“I haven't really even touched you yet,” Jane said. Her face was pressed right up against Petra's.

“It's just so...” Petra sighed. “Nice.”

Jane wasn't sure how Petra was going to react when she actually did touch her, but she knew she couldn't wait to find out.

Then, there was a noise somewhere behind them. The iPhone ringtone. For a second neither of them moved, Jane's hand was still resting on Petra's crotch, Petra's hand up Jane's shirt, resting on her breast.

Petra reached behind her and grabbed her phone. She frowned.

“It's Rafael.”

“Petra, I know this is a bad time, but it might be something important, something with the kids.”

Petra conceded and answered. “What? Really? Now?” She pressed the phone to her chest. “He said the kids want to Facetime with us before bed.”

Jane knew both of them would rather be doing something else, but she did miss Mateo and Petra surely missed the twins.

“Petra...”

“I know.” She put the phone back to her ear. “Okay, let's do it.”

They talked to the kids for about a half an hour (they were clearly putting off going to bed) before Rafael finally made them say good night. Mateo kissed the screen and Jane almost cried. 

After they hung up, they decided that it was too late to move forward with what they were doing before. 

“I want to enjoy it,” Petra said. Then she went to quickly explain herself. “I mean, I would enjoy it no matter what, but I want to take it slow. I want to... just...”

Petra's eyes raked over Jane's body and it took everything in Jane to not grab Petra again. Part of her wanted to take it slow, but then she also wanted to just not waste anytime.

Petra visibly swallowed. “You have an early morning.”

“Right.”

They got changed (separately) and crawled into bed. Jane had to ignore the pulsing ache between her legs and focus on the interview tomorrow. It took her a while to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no sex for them


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to not wait over a month for the next chapter.

Jane felt more stressed out for the interview in Tampa than the one in Miami (if that was possible). The studio was larger and more hustle and bustle. Everyone in the studio seemed to be rushing around; it was making Jane's head hurt.

She also wished she and Petra were able to have sex last night, to be completely honest, because she felt like she really needed some stress relief. She supposed she could have tried masturbating, but it wasn't really her thing. It was evidently Petra's thing, though, because shortly after they went to bed, Jane felt Petra leave the bed and then take a very long shower. Jane had her suspicions when after Petra came back, it took barely a minute before Petra was asleep.

Her solution for stress-relief had been to go to the hotel gym and do some boxing. Every punch to the punching bag drained just a little bit more bit of stress in her body. She kept this up until her arms were tired and her body ached. When she checked her phone, she saw that she had been doing this for twenty minutes and only had about ten minutes to take a quick shower.

When she got back up to the room, she was greeted by the smell of pancakes and eggs. Petra was sitting on the end of the bed, two tray-tables set up with breakfast on both.

“Petra, did you get room service?”

“Well, you're always so hungry after boxing, so,” Petra shrugged. “If your stomach is alright.”

“It's feeling better. I do need to take a shower, though.”

Petra nodded. “Go ahead.”

“What about the food?”

“It'll be here if you want it. I'll try to keep it warm.”

Jane could feel her face twist as she tried to not cry. Again, it was a simple thing, but Jane loved to be surprised, no matter how simple the gesture.

“Petra...”

Petra rolled her eyes, but smiled, then gestured to the bathroom with her head. “Go. Hurry.”

Jane went into the bathroom and took a quick shower, suddenly hungry. After she came out, Petra was sitting in the same place and Jane sat beside her. The food was still pretty warm and tasted delicious. Jane was several bites in when she noticed Petra wasn't eating, just watching her.

“Aren't you hungry?”

“I had a muffin. How do you feel?”

“Nervous. But I think I'm ready. I mean, I've done this already so how hard can it be?”

“You'll do great. I mean that.”

Jane smiled at Petra. “I know. You wouldn't say it if you didn't mean it.”

Jane went back to eating. In her peripheral vision, she could tell Petra was still watching her. When she was done, she quickly got dressed, Petra helped touch up her makeup (even though she would likely have her makeup done in the studio).

And there they were. Jane suddenly wished she hadn't eaten so much as she stomach churned. Seriously, she did an interview already, she knew she could do this.

Petra gave her a friendly pat on her arm before Jane was whisked off to hair and make-up. The woman doing that was friendly, but Jane felt too sick to really talk. You're being ridiculous, she told herself. She was a strong, smart, resilient person; she could do this. She took a few slow, deep breaths, trying to remember her breathing from when she had that panic attack. It helped.

Then she locked eyes with Petra was across the room. Petra winked at her. Jane nodded.

Not much later, Jane was once again behind a news desk, now with two newscasters. A man and a woman. Between the break they chatted briefly and Jane felt better. Then the stage lights flashed in front of Jane's eyes.

“Don't worry, you'll get used to those lights,” the woman newscaster, Gaby, reassured her. 

Jane just nodded.

The newscasters introduced Jane similarly to how the Miami newscaster introduced her.

Gaby then turned to Jane and smiled. “And welcome Jane. It's really nice that you came to join us.”

“Thank you for inviting me. Tampa is a lovely city.”

“Now, let's get into it. I read your book and I cried. It was so lovely, but heartbreaking. You're a very strong woman to get through that.”

“Well, it wasn't easy, but I couldn't have done it without my awesome family. Can I say high to them?”

“Of course.”

Jane turned to the camera, no longer feeling nervous. “Ma, Abuela, Dad, I love you guys so much. And Mateo! I miss you!”

“And they were always there for you? I mean, through this ordeal?”

“Always. My abuela went through the same thing with her husband, my grandfather, so she understood. And my mom knows me so well. And my dad, well, he's really good at giving hugs.”

Gaby turned to the camera. “For those of you unaware, Jane's father is Rogelio de la Vega, telenovela star.”

“Yes. Without them, I don't think I couldn't've gotten through it.”

“Now, there was another man, Rafael Solano. Was he there too?”

Jane glanced at Petra, who looked irritated. “Yes, since he's my son's father. We're also friends.”

Gaby leaned in a little bit. “Just friends?”

Jane frowned and tried to not react too much. Why was everyone so obsessed with her relationship with Rafael? Wasn't this a news station, not E! “Yes. We almost got back together again, but... anyway, this isn't really important to my book.”

“Well you do mention him a lot.”

“Well, he was important to my story with Michael. He sort of broke us up. Sort of. It's complicated. Anyway, my relationship with Rafael just strengthened my relationship with Michael.”

“And what about now?”

“What about now?”

“Since Michael is... You're single now, so, what's next?” Gaby didn't seem like she was asking these questions to be mean, she was just doing her job, but it didn't make it any less insensitive.

“I'm focusing on my writing and my career. And my son.”

Gaby seemed to take the hint because she nodded and shuffled through her papers. “Any man would be lucky to have you.”

Jane mumbled, “or woman,” under her breath.

“Sorry?”

Jane looked up at Petra, who was now chewing on her thumbnail. They locked eyes. Jane took a deep breath. She was tired of hiding, tired of being vague. If she was going to be an inspiration to young women, this was her next step.

“I am dating someone.”

Gaby's eyes lit up. “Oh? Who is he?”

A self-satisfied smile twitched at her lips. “Do you remember Petra Solano, from my book?”

“Yes, the manipulative, gold-digging ex-wife of Rafael. Why--” Gaby seemed to notice the smirk on Jane's face. “Oh.”

Jane looked at Petra again. Her eyes were comically wide. Gaby followed Jane's eye.

“Is that her?”

“Yes, but don't get her up here if she doesn't want to.”

“This is... not what I expected at all. This is a surprise.”

“It was a surprise for me too,” Jane admitted. “We sort of hated each other. I mean, maybe not, but we certainly didn't get along. But love can come from unexpected places.”

“So, you love her?”

Jane opened her mouth to respond, then realized she hadn't said it to Petra before, because she didn't realize it herself. Did she love Petra? The fact that she didn't have to dwell on it too long was making it obvious.

“Yes. Yes, I love Petra Solano.” Jane looked back at Petra, who had her knuckles pressed against her mouth. “I love you, Petra. I do.”

Jane couldn't see Petra that well, but she could see a shimmering in Petra's eyes. 

“Um, anyway,” Jane wiped at the tears from her face. “So yes, I'm dating someone.”

Gaby turned back to the camera. “And that just goes to show how beautiful things can come from tragedy. One more question, Jane. When can we expect your next book? What do you have planned?”

“Well, that was two questions. But I've been working on a book about my grandmother's life, about her coming to America to give her family a better life. I had started that a while ago, before Michael's death, but I want to start that again. I don't know when that'll come out, though. It might be a while.”

Gaby nodded and smiled at Jane. “Thank you, Jane. And thank you for being here. Jane Villanueva's book 'Falling Snow' is out in stores now.”

As soon as the cameras were off, Gaby took Jane's hand. “That was really lovely, Jane. You didn't plan that, did you? Or you're a good actress.”

“I didn't plan that. I didn't even... it was a surprise to me.”

“I've read up on you, Jane, and you have the life fitting for a character in a story.”

“I think about that a lot.” Jane looked back up at Petra, who had taken a few steps closer. “I should...”

Gaby gestured for Jane to go on ahead. Jane left the stage and took a few steps towards Petra, then stopped. It was starting to hit her what she just did. She just admitted she loved Petra on television. She spread their personal business on television. Petra liked to pretend she liked attention, but it usually made Petra uncomfortable. And Jane liked attention to an extent.

“Petra, I'm...”

Petra cleared the distance between them and took one of Jane's hands. “I love you, too, Jane.”

Jane's eyes met those big, beautiful blue ones. “Yeah?”

“Yes.”

“You're not mad I said all that on TV?”

Petra gave Jane a gentle smile and brushed the hair from Jane's sweaty face. “I was a little taken aback for a moment, honestly. But you wouldn't do that for the attention.”

“Never.”

Petra kissed Jane, in front of the whole crew. Jane melted into it, melted as Petra clutched Jane's hand against her stomach, combed her hair back with her other hand. Jane didn't care if people were probably watching them. Really, she would have kept going if Petra's phone didn't suddenly start buzzing between them.

“Shit,” Petra mumbled. She pulled the phone out of her pocket, checked, and her eyes went wide. “Rafael.”

“What's-- Oh, shit.” Rafael promised to watch the livestream of the show. “He saw.”

Petra cleared her throat and answered the phone. “Yes?”

They weren't on speakerphone, but Rafael's voice was loud enough to Jane to hear. “Don't give me that. I think you know why I called.”

“I take it you saw the show.”

“Yes, I did, and I have some questions.”

Petra covered the phone up for a second to sigh. She rolled her eyes. “Raf, whatever you have to say doesn't matter. We'll talk about it when we get home.”

“Fine, but can we--”

“No,” Petra snapped. “Jane is tired and we should go back to the hotel to rest.”

There was brief silence on Rafael's end. Jane could hear his ragged breathing.

“Fine. I'll have the kids call again tonight.”

“Great. Goodbye, Rafael.”

After Rafael hung up, Petra pressed her phone against her forehead. Before Jane could say anything, Petra started laughing. Not loudly, but still enough to make Jane jump.

“Well, he finally knows.”

“Yeah,” Jane said. “It could've been worse, I guess?”

“He could've found us fucking in my office.”

A shiver went up Jane's spine. “Yes. Is that something you've thought about?”

A very noticeable blush went up Petra's neck. She looked away from Jane. “Anyway, should we get back to the room?”

Jane brought Petra's hand up to her mouth and kissed it. “Let's go.”

Petra's mouth was on Jane's the moment they closed the hotel door behind them. Her hands closed around Jane's face, her thumbs stroking Jane's cheekbones. She pulled back and Jane gently licked at Petra's upper lip.

“Petra...”

“Yeah?” Jane kissed Petra. “I want to take a bath.”

They stayed standing, nose-tip to nose-tip. “A bath?”

“With you.”

“Oh. Uh, sure.”

Jane got a little too much pleasure in Petra's adorably confused face. She really did want to take a bath, but having Petra there made the idea even better. They slowly undressed each other, taking note of the other's body. They had each naked in bits, but never fully nude. Jane looked Petra up and down. She really was beautiful. Long legs meeting with a long torso eventually coming up to that long neck. She pressed her lips to Petra's neck and kissed it gently. Petra held her close.

They kissed each other while they tub filled up, but never once touched each other in the way their bodies were aching to be touched. They had waiting for so long, but something about waiting even more made it more appealing.

Petra got in first, then Jane sat between her legs. They both sighed and Jane leaned against Petra's body. The memory of her being so stressed out just a couple hours ago seemed so distant, or maybe it never actually happened. Stress didn't seem like a feasible thing at all right now.

There was suddenly lips on her earlobe, sucking gently and Jane's body had some sort of spasm. Petra chuckled behind her.

“I've never had someone react like that to ear-sucking.”

“You weren't with the right people,” Jane said.

Petra went quiet. She wasn't sucking on Jane's ear anymore, and instead pressed her nose against the shell of Jane's ear. “You're right, Jane. You're very right.”

“Are you okay?” Did she say something wrong?

“Yeah. Jane, your admission today made me think about something.”

When Petra didn't continue, Jane turned her head slightly, trying to see Petra's face. 

“I've followed your lead and I've been researching, about sexuality? For such a long time I thought being straight was the only option, that anything else was unacceptable. I told myself that any feeling I felt for other girls, women, was just me being a woman appreciating other women.”

“That's a very common thing, Petra. I felt the same way. It's called compulsory heterosexuality.”

“And I saw that, in my research. So, you said you're bisexual, right?”

“It seems to fit how I feel,” Jane said with a shrug.

“And after we started going out, I was thinking the same for me. I've been with several men, and I enjoyed sex with them sometimes. But then I was thinking, sex is probably less complicated than people think. Anytime I had sex with a man it was either out of obligation, or I wanted to have a baby, or I was lonely, or out of spite. Or just horniness. It never really felt like I did these things because I wanted to. Most of the men you slept with you did it because you cared about them, right? You waited until you were married to Michael, to show how much he means to you. The idea of doing that with any man sounded crazy to me. To me, sleeping with a man, usually when I was horny, was just a step above masturbation. I could have easily done that, but I liked the control when sleeping with another person.”

Jane started rubbing Petra's arm while she spoke. She had an idea where Petra was doing with this, but she wanted Petra to get there on her own.

“When I'm with you, though, I both want to wait—I'm glad we're waiting—to enjoy being with you, but also I want to," Petra sighed, "give you as many orgasms as I can. I never gave a shit if I got a man to orgasm. Why should I? Giving a man an orgasm is no feat. I loved Rafael, but a lot of the time being with him felt like an obligation. He had the most money, so I should be with him. He's the father of my children so I should be with him. It didn't feel right.”

Petra took a deep breath. “Being with you feels like a breath of fresh air. Not to be dramatic, but it was like... I was underwater, swimming, trying to find any place to get oxygen, never getting enough. Then you came along and it was like I got to the surface and took that first breath.”

“Petra, that's...”

“Corny, I know.”

“A little, but I might have to put that line in my next book. I'll give you credit.”

Petra half sighed, half laughed. “Fine by me. Anyway, my point was that I think I'm gay.”

She had said it so quickly Jane almost didn't catch it. Even though it was uncomfortable, Jane turned her head enough to really look at Petra.

“I'm gay,” Petra repeated. “I'm gay.”

Then Petra's face twisted and tears started streaming down her face. She kept repeating “I'm gay” over and over and Jane kissed her over and over.

Once Petra finally calmed down, about ten minutes later, she encircled her arms around Jane and rested her chin on Jane's shoulder.

“How do you feel?” Jane asked.

“Good. Honestly really good.” Petra sighed deeply. “It took me so long to admit that to myself and I finally said it.”

Jane rubbed her cheek against Petra's face. “I'm so proud of you.”

“God, I wasted 35 years being straight,” Petra said. She laughed. 

“Well, here's to 35 plus years to being gay!”

Petra laughed even harder Her grip on Jane tightened and she placed a kiss on Jane's ear. They stayed like that for a while. Between the warm water and Petra's long arms around her, it wasn't hard for Jane to fall asleep. She didn't even know she was asleep until she jerked suddenly in Petra's arms. The water was now pretty cold and she could feel Petra shivering behind her.

“I was wondering when you'd wake up,” Petra mumbled sleepily.

“How long was I asleep?”

“Almost an hour.”

“An hour? Petra, why didn't you wake me up?”

“I was pretty comfortable. And holding you was... nice.”

Jane turned around fully, getting a good look at Petra's now pruny body. Her skin was turning blue. “Okay, Petra, I think it's time to get out before you get a cold.”

Jane got up first and helped Petra to her feet. Petra wobbled and almost fell over.

“I think my legs are asleep,” Petra laughed.

“Alright, c'mon.” Jane put her arm around Petra and helped get her out of the tub. She found a large towel that she put over both of them and she walked them both back to the bed. They both lied down, facing each other.

“The interview tomorrow is in Sarasota.”

“Are you nervous?”

Jane snorted. “I professed my love for you on local television, I think I got this.”

“What's next? You're going to propose to me?”

It was a joke, of course, but Jane found a lump in throat at the thought. She licked lips. The smile on Petra's face disappeared.

“Anyway, um, they'll probably ask about that profession of love. You're welcome to come up, but you don't have to.”

“Be on TV? The old Petra would jump at the chance to be on TV for something like. Not dating you, of course, because the old Petra would never admit to something like that. I'm glad people know, but I also don't care that people know. It's no one's business but our own.”

“Except now our baby daddy knows.”

“He's going to be a little bitch about it, I bet.”

“Petra!” Jane gently swatted at Petra and laughed. She was probably right, but she also wanted to give Rafael some credit. 

“Former hotel tycoon's ex-wife and ex-girlfriend, slash baby mama's, dating each other.”

“It'll make a perfect headline,” Jane said.

Petra sighed. “If someone does that headline, he is going to be pissed.”

Jane put her hand under Petra's cheek and rubbed her thumb against the part underneath Petra's eye. “He can be pissed. I don't care.”

“I don't care either,” Petra said, smiling.

Petra fell asleep this time, Jane's hand still under Petra's cheek. She didn't care if Petra was drooling on her hand. She didn't care that her hand was going numb. This was love, just wanting to be close to Petra. And it felt like it was happening so slowly, then bam, there is was. Now it was just so obvious. 

But it was so powerful too, the way Jane's heart flipped as she stared at Petra. She had felt the same way about Michael but this felt different. Not because she loves Petra more than she loved Michael, but because she had loved before. She had also loved Michael so deeply, and she was prepared to spend the rest of her life with Michael. She planned that; she planned that they would have two more kids, that she and Michael would watch their kids, then grandkids grow up, she planned that she and Michael would grow old together and she hoped that both of them would die peacefully in their sleep at the same time.

She had accepted that it wasn't going to be that way. Michael was gone, she knew that, but the idea of loving someone so deeply after Michael was scary and it was suddenly hitting her. Jane loved Petra and Petra loved Jane. That was a fact. And Michael would want her to move on, to be happy, and she was happy.

But after loving someone in that way, then to have them ripped away from you, then loving someone completely different, it was a little bit painful. It was very painful. 

It was very confusing. To be happy she could love someone after Michael, but also angry with herself that she could love someone after Michael. But again, Michael would want her to be happy, she told herself.

She kissed Petra's forehead and laughed softly at the way Petra's face crinkled, reminding Jane of Mateo.

“Petra, you probably can't hear me, but know that I love you so much and I would never hurt you. And I'll love you as long as you'll let me. And probably even longer than that because,” Jane had to stop to keep herself from crying. “I'm glad we found each other.”

She kissed Petra's cheek this time and curled up closer to her. She pretty sure Petra was still asleep, but Petra still tightened her grip on Jane, probably reflectively. The last image that Jane saw in her head before she fell asleep was Michael smiling at her.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After lending my computer to my mom, I was finally able to write this.

The interview in Sarasota wasn't much different than the others, pretty straightforward. Jane repeated some key points, mainly about Michael, then the interviewer asks her a couple questions about her current love-life. She said the typical things; “I'm very happy,” “I'm happy to have found love again.” They weren't lies, she really did feel that way, but she was starting to feel burned out and just wanted to go home.

However, while she missed Mateo deeply, part of her also wasn't ready to go home. She was just done with the interviews, but spending the night alone was Petra was really nice. But they would have to go back and face Rafael.

“Maybe we should stay,” Jane said as she slowly folded clothes into her suitcase.

Petra, who was brushing her hair, looked at Jane in the mirror. She smirked. 

“Rafael's expecting us back.”

Jane snorted and shook her head. “Ah, fuck 'em.”

Petra turned around fully, her eyes bugged out. Jane partially said that just for that very reaction—it was worth it—but it was also how she felt. She loved Rafael, but sometimes... She didn't know how he was going to react to their relationship, he sounded pretty confused on the phone. Honestly, why wouldn't he be confused? His ex-wife and his ex-girlfriend fell in love. It was a pretty strange situation. But then she also didn't care. It wasn't his business. Which made Jane wonder why Petra wanted to have sex until they told him. Initially, anyway, because they had attempted to have sex multiple times. They hadn't succeeded yet, but they still almost went for it.

“Jane, are you serious?” Petra asked. Jane realizing she had zoned out, snapped back to attention.

“No, I guess not. We should get back.”

Petra nodded in agreement and turned back to the mirror. Her eyes kept flickering back to Jane.

They left shortly after that. Petra was driving, her left hand on the steering wheel, her right curled in Jane's hand. Petra's hair was up so Jane could really study her profile. She really was beautiful.

“I love your ears,” Jane said after a moment. It was an odd thing to say, but Jane had never really noticed how interesting Petra's ears were. They stuck out a little bit and the curled part along the edges were very thin.

Petra's face went red. “I never liked them.”

“Why not?”

“When I was a kid, just having moved back to the Czech Republic from Germany, other children made fun of me. Called me Monkey Girl; Divka opice. Not just because of my ears, but also I had disproportionally long arms for a while. Then I had a growth spurt and I was Giraffe Girl.”

Jane squeezed Petra's hand.

“But,” Petra said with a sniff, “it made me stronger.”

“You're the strongest person I know.”

Petra looked over at Jane out of the corner of her eye. “After you.”

It took five minutes to decide if they wanted to hold hands while they walked in to pick up the kids. Petra felt Rafael would lose his mind, which she was fine with. But they decided against it.

As soon as they came through the door to Rafael's suite, Jane narrowly had the head of her son ram between her legs. She caught him before he could hurt her.

“Mommy, you're back!”

“I missed you, Mister Sweetface.” Jane peppered kisses all over his face while he squirmed in her arms.

Mateo was followed by the twins, who were a little less aggressive when they came up to hug their mother. Petra placed a kiss on each of their cheeks.

“I saw you on TV, Mommy!” Mateo said. “You were so pretty.”

Jane took up at Petra. “Um, Mateo, did you hear everything I said?”

“Well, you talked a lot so I don't think so.”

“Did you hear me say anything about Petra?”

Mateo looked confused. Apparently not. And apparently Rafael didn't say anything about it to him.

“You love our mommy,” Elsa said. She looked up at her mother. “Right? That's what Aunt Jane said?”

Petra's lips curled into a smile. “Yes. And I love her.”

The twins aww'd together and Mateo's mouth formed into an 'o'. 

“Are you getting married?” He asked.

Jane looked over at Petra very carefully. Petra's face was unreadable right now. Petra had been married twice and Jane once. None of their marriages ended well, for different reasons. It wasn't something they had discussed.

“I don't know, Mateo.”

“But... if you love each other, don't you get married?”

“For a lot of people, but not everyone gets married.”

Mateo looked even more confused and Jane ruffled his hair. “Don't worry about it, sweetie.”

“Where's--” Petra's question was answered when Rafael stepped out of his room. Her had clearly been listening.

“Welcome back,” he said quietly. 

Then to their surprise, he hugged them both.

“You did well in your interviews,” he said softly in Jane's ear.

“Thanks, Raf.”

Then the awkward silence that Jane had been waiting for fell over them. Rafael didn't look angry, at least, but he clearly didn't know what to say. It had to be weird. She imagined if Michael and Rafael had decided to date (real date, not the friend-date they went on). She would be happy for them, of course, but it would be weird.

“Raf-”

“I want to take you two out tonight. I want to talk to you.” Again, he didn't sound angry. He wasn't smiling, but Jane knew Rafael well enough to know when he was angry.

“Um, okay. Petra, what do you say?” 

Petra lifted her head slightly and pursed her lips. Jane shot her a gentle smile until Petra rolled her eyes and sighed. “Fine.”

Rafael just nodded. “I'll text you the details. Are you taking the kids to your house, Jane? Or Petra's apartment?”

“I think I'm going to take the twins to my suite, while Jane goes to her house with Mateo. I don't need to tag along with her all the time.”

“But you're more than welcome to, Petra,” Jane said firmly. “Remember, my family likes you now.”

“No, you go spend time with them. I'll see you tonight at dinner.”

They moved in for a kiss, but at the last second went for each others' cheeks. They both threw awkward glances at Rafael, who wasn't looking directly at them.

“Mommy, can two girls make babies?” Mateo asked suddenly as they drove to the Villanueva house.

“What?”

“Are you and Aunt Petra gonna make babies? That's what people do when they love each other, right?”

Jane couldn't help but laugh. “No, we can't make babies.”

“Why not?”

“Mateo, I told you how babies are usually made, remember?” Jane, at first worried about traumatizing her son, had decided to be honest. Rafael wasn't happy, especially when Mateo came over proclaiming, “your penis makes babies!”

“Yeah.”

“Petra doesn't have a penis, so we can't.”

“Oh. Well, what about how I was made? Enbeetro.”

“Invitro. And you still need someone with sperm; remember, those little swimming guys?”

“Yeah. I want a brother.”

“I know you do, sweetie. Maybe someday.” Jane loved the idea of another baby, but it wasn't really in the cards right now. And if she and Petra's was as serious as she thought it was, she didn't know how Petra would feel about it.

When they pulled up to the house, it looked like people were home; cars were there. But it was quiet, even as they walked up to the porch.

“Hellooooo?” Mateo yelled.

Just as they walked inside, the TV turned on and started playing Jane's interview in Tampa. Rogelio then ran out of the kitchen and hugged his daughter tightly.

“Jane, you did stupendously! I am so proud! And proclaiming your love for someone on television...” Rogelio put his hand to his chest and sighed.

“Yeah, that was pretty bold. How'd Petra react?” Xiomara asked as she also stepped out of the kitchen, followed by Alba.

“She actually liked it.” Jane hugged her mother and grandmother. “I just couldn't take them asking anymore, and it was always a guy.”

“I'm proud of you, Jane. You stood up for yourself and your sexuality,” Xiomara said.

“Did Rafael agree?” Alba asked, in Spanish.

“Yeeeeeh... Yes? I'm not really sure. He wants to have dinner with me and Petra tonight. He sounded annoyed when he called yesterday, but I couldn't tell when I saw him today. I guess I'll see tonight.”

“He is a good man,” Rogelio said. “And he loves you, I don't see why he would be annoyed.”

“How would you feel if you and Ma broke up and she started dating... Darci?”

“They would never date, Darci ha- strongly dislikes your mother.”

“And how do you think Petra and I used to feel about each other? The situations aren't that different.”

Rogelio's face went pale and he quickly turned to Xiomara. “Please don't date Darci.”

Xiomara smiled. “I don't know, she is pretty cute.”

“Don't joke about that! Jane, do not put the idea in your mother's head.”

Xiomara gently pushed Rogelio and shook her head.

“Anyway,” Jane said, “I can get why it would be weird. But if he's angry, I don't care. He's the one who kept going back and forth.”

“I like Rafael, but he doesn't deserve you,” Xiomara said. “Either of you.'

Jane was pleasantly surprised to hear that. Her mother was actively talking nice about Petra.

“I'm not so sure Petra--”

“Ma, I know exactly what you're gonna say, so, please don't. Petra and I deserve each other. Neither of us are perfect.”

Xiomara opened and closed her mouth twice between shutting it and nodding. “You're right.”

“Mommy wants to make babies with Petra, except she can't because Petra doesn't have a penis,” Mateo said suddenly.

They all looked down at the four-year-old, unsure whether or not to laugh. Xiomara did laugh after a moment, as did Jane, then Rogelio. Alba chuckled.

“Come on, Matelio, I think it's your naptime,” Rogelio said, scooping up his grandson.

Then Alba left the room to work on dinner. Jane and Xiomara sat down on the couch.

“So, how do you feel after those interviews?” Xiomara asked.

“Well,” Jane exhaled sharply and rested her head on the back of couch. “Pretty good, actually. I mean, it was tough and I was super nervous. But, I'm glad I did it. Every time I have to talk about Michael, it gets easier and it makes me feel better.”

Xiomara took Jane's hand and squeezed it. “I'm glad, sweetie. You do seem happier these days. I hating seeing you so sad. After seeing your abuela go through that, I never wanted to see another family go through it, especially not my daughter.”

Jane had nothing to say, so they sat there in silence for a few minutes. Then she remembered something she had been thinking about the other night.

“I know this is silly, but I couldn't help but feel selfish about being with someone else. After Michael.”

“Janey, that's a normal thing. It took Abuela over twenty years to date again.”

“It's just... the idea of loving someone again is scary. Not just because of Michael, because I know he'd be happy for me, but also I don't want to go through that again. Losing someone I love. Petra has told me about someone the awful things that have happened to her. Did you know that Roman Zazo kidnapped her? Michael saved her. I never knew that.”

“I didn't either.”

“And that whole thing with her sister paralyzing her and then later holding her at gunpoint. People I know, people I love, have had these awful things happen to them, but then I think about the people that actually experience it. Michael was shot. Petra also almost died, multiple times. I'm just a bystander.”

“You've had bad things happen to you too.”

“I was accidentally artificially inseminated. And now I have a wonderful son.”

“Still...”

“Those things don't compare.”

“Jane, I'm not sure what you're getting at here. You're not selfish for considering the things that have happened to you.”

“I know, but...”

“And you're not selfish for loving someone after your husband died.”

“Am I selfish for being scared that something will happen to Petra? Part of it is about Petra getting hurt, because she doesn't deserve any of that. But it's also me being scared about having to go through that again.”

As Jane spoke, her voice quivered and her body tensed. Xiomara's arms were around her in an instant.

“Jane, you went through a traumatic event. You saw your husband just after he was shot, you had to watch him fight that, then you had to go through him dying. You are not selfish, you're a person who went through something traumatic. You're allowed to be scared. And you know what, so what if you're being selfish? We're all allowed to be selfish. And you're the least selfish person I know.”

Xiomara's arms were strong and they held Jane until she relaxed, and even longer than that. Jane repeated 'I'm not selfish' in her head over and over until she mostly believed it.

Jane didn't know she had fallen asleep until her body jerked suddenly. Xiomara kissed her forehead and pulled back a little.

“How do you feel?”

“Better,” Jane said, truthfully.

“Good. Now, can I ask you a question?”

“Sure.”

“Have you and Petra...”

Jane immediately knew what her mother meant, even before Xiomara started making gestures with her fingers. “No.”

“No? Seriously?”

“Petra wanted to wait until Rafael knew.”

“Well, he knows.”

“I know, and honestly Petra was willing to get rid of that rule. But the timing wasn't right. We want it to be perfect.”

“I wonder how Petra is in bed...”

Jane's face grew hot. “Ma...”

“I know, I know. ...She looks pretty flexible, with that long body.”

Jane felt really weird right now; she had image of Petra's body, twisted around her own, but then Xiomara's voice. “Ma.”

“I bet she likes a finger in her butt. Uptight people like that like a finger or two in her butt.”

Jane jumped off the couch. “Okay, good talk.”

Jane stood there a moment before turning around partially. “Seriously, good talk. Thank you. Just, not for the butt stuff.”

“Anytime, sweetie. And I think you should tell this stuff to Petra. Remember, communication is key.”

“I know.”

“Go, get ready for your awkward dinner.”

Jane met up with Petra at Petra's suite. They both dressed up, unsure how fancy this dinner would be. All Rafael was to meet him in his suite.

“You don't he'd asked us for a threesome, do you?” Petra asked as she touched up Jane's hair.

“Rafael has a lot of flaws, but he's not gross. Not to say people who have threesomes are gross, but in this context...”

Petra gently scratched Jane's scalp with her fingernails, to get her to stop rambling.

“If he does, I'm leaving.”

“Are you going to tell him what you told me? About your sexuality?”

“Do you think that'll make it worse?”

“No. It shouldn't make it worse. A lot of women date men before they realize they're lesbians.”

Jane looked up at Petra's face in the mirror. It looked weird. Did she say something wrong? Petra literally said she was gay last night.

“Petra?”

Petra didn't respond until Jane repeated her name. “Sorry. Um, we should go.”

Petra stood up before Jane could say anymore. Jane was worried Petra was angry with her until Petra slipped her hand into Jane's. So, what was that about?

They kept their hands locked ever after they went to Rafael's door. When he answered it, he looked down at their hands. Again, unreadable. 

“Come on in,” he said, standing to the side.

The room was lit with a low light, candle sat on the table, with food already laid out.

“We're eating here?” Jane asked.

“Is that okay?” Rafael pulled a chair out for Jane, then Petra.

As Petra sat down she turned to him and said, “we're not having a threesome with you.”

Rafael laughed for the first time since Jane saw him. And it sounded like a genuine laugh. “I know. I'd never ask you.”

Jane finally relaxed. Rafael sat across from them.

“Fresh filleted Grouper with rice and roasted vegetables.” He gestured to the plates in front of them. “Have as much as you want.”

Jane and Petra were hesitant at first, but Jane at least was very hungry so she went for it. She could see Petra repeatedly lift her head to look at Rafael. When they finished, Petra leaned back, her eyes staring intently at Rafael.

“So, what's this about?” Her voice didn't have the same edge as it did earlier. It was a genuine question.

“I just want to know more about this. I was honestly surprised when I first heard it. You know, on TV.”

Jane and Petra exchanged glances.

“I thought a lot about it. At first, it made absolutely no sense to me. I mean, I saw how you two became friends. But that friendship came from such a weird place.”

Neither Jane nor Petra said anything. Rafael seemed to be thinking out loud more than anything else right now.

“But the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. You two have been through a lot, both separately and together. Some of it caused by me. You really supported each other when it mattered, and you didn't even let me tear you apart. Then I watched your interview again and I,” Rafael stopped and cleared his throat. “I saw how passionately you talked about Petra. You really love her.”

“I do,” Jane said softly.

“I'll admit it was painful at first. Not necessarily because of my past with you two, but because I could see how much Jane loved you, Petra, and I assume how much you love Jane. I do want that. But I'm glad it wasn't with either of you because otherwise...”

He gestured to them with both hands before gently clasping his hands together.

“You'll find that someday, Raf,” Jane said, her voice gentle.

He just nodded.

Jane looked over at Petra, whose jaw was clenched. Jane could have sworn she saw Petra's lower lip quiver. She tapped the side of Petra's leg.

“Raf, I'm sorry things went so badly with us.” Petra's voice was strong, but anyone who knew her well (Jane and Rafael) would know she was trying hard to not cry. “I did—I do—care about you. You make me so mad sometimes, but I do love you. I just wish... I had known sooner. I wish I could have figured it out sooner. Maybe it would saved both of all this pain.”

“Figure out that you loved Jane? We were married longer than we knew Jane.”

“I mean about me being a lesbian.” At that word, Petra's lips curled into a big smile.

“So you are...”

“A lesbian,” Petra finished for Rafael. She turned to Jane. “I'm a lesbian, Jane.”

“I know, Petra.” It took Jane a second to realize why this was suddenly a big deal, when Petra had called her gay the night before. The labels made it different. It made it more real for Petra. “I'm proud of you.”

“And Jane is a bisexual. Right, Jane?” Petra leaned on her elbow and gave Jane a hard look.

“Uh, right. What Petra said.”

Rafael blinked, obviously not how he was expecting the night to go. But he smiled.

“Congrats.”

Petra whispered 'a lesbian' under her breath, then let out a huffing breath, her face relaxing.

“If Luisa wasn't so pissed at me, I'd tell her the news. She had a hunch about you a long time ago, but I ignored her. Like I always do.” Rafael leaned back in his chair.

“You should talk to her, Raf. She's obviously hurting. Plus, she has a lot of power right now. You're lucky she's letting you stay longer.”

Rafael nodded and rubbed where his beard used to be. “Yeah, yeah... Anyway, in summary, I'm happy for you two.”

“We didn't need your permission,” Petra said. Petra wasn't good with the sarcasm, but Jane knew that was her attempt at it.

Rafael smiled gently. “I know.”

He then stood up, rounded the table, and hugged them both at the same time from behind. Jane put her hand around his wrist and squeezed. Their situation was weird before and now it had become weirder. But knowing there was no hard feelings made it better. Jane could practically feel a little bit more stress leave her body and she exhaled.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, they finally do it, folks. And I decided to end it. I didn't have any plans for this after they have sex. I'll probably write one-shots thought.

With all of her interviews over, it meant back to life. Which was great. But it also meant back to life. Not even a week after she got back she got a call from Mateo´s teacher. She wouldn´t say anything on the phone and neither would Mateo. He was acting weird when Jane got home, but she assumed that it was because he was annoyed she left.

Either way, Jane prepared herself for the worst. She knew he was getting better but he still had some issues. He was trying, though, so hopefully it was nothing too bad.

As she entered the classroom she couldn´t read the teacher´s face. They shook hands and Jane sat down.

¨So,¨ she started, forcing a smile.

¨Miss Villanueva, I´ll cut to the chase.¨

Jane silently sucked in a breath.

¨A lot of people saw that interview you did.¨

¨...Oh.”

“Including some of the parents.”

Jane swallowed, suddenly feeling sick. 

Likely seeing the look on Jane's face, the teacher reached forward and gently placed her hand on Jane's. “None of the parents had an issue with it. Except one.”

As soon as the teacher said it, Jane knew who it was. She could picture them.

“So, why did you ask me here?”

“It seems their son heard some of the things his parents were saying and they repeated them, to Mateo. He kept repeating some awful things until Mateo punched him.”

Jane didn't necessarily want to smile, but she couldn't always control her face. She could feel the corner of her mouth twitch up before she could stop herself.

“Oh?”

“Miss Villanueva, you know I don't condone violence, especially when it comes to my students. However...”

The teacher paused, clearly trying to find the right words.

“The other boy was clearly parroting what his parents were saying, but I have had problems with him before. Sometimes a message needs to be sent through more drastic measures. Again, I don't condone violence.”

“Of course.”

“We live in a world where hateful words are often the norm, especially to those who are more marginalized than others. It's important to address that, even if you're five years old. I think I will have a talk with the whole class.”

“I'm still sorry that he punched someone.”

The teacher didn't say “it's okay” but she also didn't say anything else. She just inclined her head before smiling.

“You know, Jane, it's not any of my business, but I always thought you and Petra were cute together. I thought you were a couple the first time I met you, the way you bickered back and forth.”

Jane laughed softly. “I wish we had realized it sooner.”

“Things happen when they happen. Anyway, good luck to you two.”

Relief drained from Jane's body as soon as she stepped out of the classroom. She had mixed feelings about Mateo punching that boy, but she felt a twinge of pride. It was likely that he punched that kid because Mateo hated being teased, it just triggered something in him. But Jane also wanted to believe that he did it to protect her and maybe, less likely protecting Petra.

Her good mood was soured a little bit when she got a call from her editor. He was asking her about new ideas she had for any books, and Jane, who had no ideas yet, made something up on the spot. She didn't even remember what she said. 

His response was, “hm, sounds interesting, Jane! I can't wait to hear more about it!” Before hanging up. She was glad he didn't ask more questions, but confused why he called in the first place.

Her newest book took such effort, writing another book so soon didn't even occur to her. This was her least favorite part of the writing process, followed shortly by actually starting writing. She knew she would think of something eventually, but right now her brain just felt empty.

She was about to go back to the hotel, where Petra, Rafael, and the kids were, but her mother texted her with: “at the house. Can we talk?”

Xiomara was sitting in the kitchen when Jane got there. She had her hands tightly clutched around a coffee mug and was staring blankly out the window.

“Ma?”

Xiomara slowly lifted her eyes up to look at Jane. 

“Mom, what is it? What's wrong?”

Xiomara sighed. “This Darci thing. Your dad and I just had lunch with her.”

“Oh, jeez, what'd she say? Is she keeping the baby away from Dad?”

“The opposite. She's willing to give him partial custody.”

Normally it would be good news, but Jane could see it on her mother's face. She didn't want to be a mother again.

“This baby isn't mine, it's your dad's, but he clearly wants us to be a family. He's trying to recapture what he missed out on with you. I get that, I do. But I'm in my forties, I have an adult daughter, I have a grandson, I thought that part of my life was over. Now my husband is having a baby with another woman and he wants us to be a family.”

Xiomara leaned back in her chair and let her head fall back. Jane rubbed her mother's upper arm.

“Have you talked to Dad about this? He's more reasonable then we give him credit for. He might understand.”

“No. The thing is, I feel bad about hiding you from him. He feels like he missed out.”

“Ma, this is a big deal. You may not be this kid's mother, but you'll be her step-mother and you'll be involved in a lot.”

“I know...” Xiomara groaned and covered her face with her hands.

“Look, you know Abuela and I are here to help.”

“You don't have to. It's my mess.”

Jane pulled up a chair and sat close to her mother. “Except it's not, it's Dad's.”

“His messes are my messes too now. Married life.”

Xiomara lifted her head back up. “At least with me in this kid's life, there's a chance she'll be like you. The world could use more you's.”

Xiomara threw an arm around Jane. “Oh, by the way, your dad has some plans for you and your baby sister. There's costumes involved.”

Jane shuddered as she remembered that picture her father had showed to her shortly after they met for the first time, the one with her adult head Photoshopped onto a baby's body. She knew how excited Rogelio was for this, but Jane wasn't quite ready for this.

“Oh, God...”

“Yep. It's all of our mess.”

“This baby is about to come into some family.”

Xiomara grinned. “She's lucky.”

“How does Darci feel about all of this?”

“I haven't spoken to her that much, but your dad says that she's fine with me being in the baby's life.”

“Really?”

Xiomara laughed. “No, not really. But she's willing to compromise.”

Jane got up and poured herself a cup of coffee. When she turned back to her mother, Xiomara looked a lot more relaxed. Xiomara met Jane's eye and smiled.

“No one could replace this,” Xiomara said, gesturing between them. “Not even a step-daughter, or whatever this baby is to me. You always know how to make me feel better.”

“I can say the same for you, Ma. Darci could never replace you as a mother.”

Jane flashed her mother a grin as she sat back at the kitchen table.

“That's not funny.”

She smirked around her cup coffee mug. “So, my editor is already wants more book ideas. He called me earlier.”

“What'd you say?”

“I have no idea. I said something and he seemed to like it, but I don't know what I said.”

Xiomara clicked her tongue. “Well, I guess come up with a better idea. Better than whatever you said.”

“Easier said than done. I have no ideas.”

“You'll come up with something.”

“I know I will eventually, but my brain is just...” Jane blew a raspberry. “I'm still thinking about my newest book, how can I think about another?”

“I guess that's the life of a publisher author.”

“Hm.”

“Okay, okay. So your book was about something you knew, something in your life. You have an interesting life, write more about that.”

“Like what?”

Xiomara shrugged. “I'm not the writer.”

Jane leaned forward and scratched her scalp. She was feeling completely stupid. Why did her editor have to call her today? He acts like a nice guy, but Jane often wondered if it was passive aggression. Couldn't she enjoy the book she just released a little bit longer?

“You're overthinking it,” Xiomara said.

“I'm not.”

“You are. Janey, you always overthink things. You just need to take a step back, relax, and it'll come to you eventually.”

“Maybe I like overthinking things.”

“Maybe you do, but it does hold you back sometimes.”

Jane sensed her mother was going somewhere with that. She knew that tone.

“Such as?”

Xiomara pretended she was thinking, but Jane knew she already knew what she wanted to say.

“Such as... You and Petra.”

“Ma, just say it.”

“Okay. I think you're overthinking your relationship with her.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The fact you haven't had sex.”

“Ma, we haven't done that because the timing hasn't been right, and Petra wanted to wait. Until... Rafael knew.”

“And, he knows. And did you really try to wait until he knew?”

Jane's ears were starting to feel hot. She didn't like this conversation, but she also knew her mom was right.

“That's not important, you still wanted to go for it. I think Rafael was just an excuse. So, what's going on?”

Jane glanced around, wishing Alba would show up so they had an interruption.

“You waited with Michael because you made a promise to Abuela, and I respect that, but you're not waiting anymore. You've had sex with other people.”

“I know.”

“So what's up? Janey, you can talk to me.”

Jane wished she could talk to her mother, but she honestly didn't know what the issue was. She loved Petra, she wanted to be with her in that way. She knew the moment it would happen would be wonderful but then... what if it wasn't. What if they wait too long and it's built up for too long and it's awful. What if...

“Oh my god,” Jane gasped. “I am overthinking it. I'm building it up too much.”

“See?”

“But Petra, she's been holding back too. She's the one who wanted to wait.”

“I'm not going to pretend to understand Petra's thought process, but don't you think she's thinking the same thing?”

“I don't know...”

“Jane, what'd I tell you, about your relationship?”

“Um... Oh. That we need to communicate.”

“Communicate! You're not going to get anywhere if you don't talk.”

Jane nodded. She sipped at her now lukewarm coffee and found her mother staring at her.

“What?”

“It might also help you think better.”

“Sorry?”

“Getting some, Jane! Clear that head!”

Jane rolled her eyes. She should have known her mother would turn the conversation that way. Xiomara was right though. 

“I'll talk to her.”

Xiomara smiled broadly. “Good.”

Jane got up and hugged her mother. She was glad she had someone like Xiomara as her mother, someone who could talk frankly .“Love you, Ma.”

“I love you too, Janey.”

Petra had meetings all day so Jane didn't see her until that evening. Jane had the day off from work, so she spent that time trying to think of something to write about. Trying to, anyway. Unfortunately nothing came to mind.

It must have been later than Jane realized because the next thing she knew she felt two cold hands on her back, causing her to jolt awake.

“Petra,” Jane gasped, rubbing at her eye and turning around. “What time is it?”

“Almost midnight. Sorry, Luisa wanted to take me out to dinner.”

“That's fine.”

Jane grasped Petra's hand in her own. As her brain woke up, she remembered her conversation with her mom.

“Hey, I don't mean to bother you as soon get home, but there's something I want to talk to you about.”

Petra nodded slowly. “I think I know what it is.”

Jane got up from Petra's desk, her hand still holding Petra's. “We've been together for a good amount now. Over a month. And it's been amazing... But I was thinking we can go the next step. I know you wanted to wait until Rafael knew but he knows now and we haven't... Like, if you want to keep waiting, I understand...”

A squeeze on her hand made her stop. “Jane, I don't want to wait. I never really wanted to wait. But I was just so... nervous because it's you and it was so new then and the idea terrified me. And now it's been so long I've...”

“Psyched yourself up,” Jane finished.

Petra's eyes went wide. “Yes.”

Jane smiled gently. “I feel the same way.”

“Really?”

Jane nodded. “Look, we can just take it slow.”

“Jane, we've already taken it slow.”

“No,” Jane said, shaking her head. “That's not what I meant. I mean tonight. We take it slow tonight.”

Comprehension flashed through Petra's eyes. “Oh.”

“Or fast. Either way, it'll be great.”

“Both sound good,” Petra said. A uncharacteristically goofy smile appeared on her face.

Jane filled the gap between them by taking a step forward. She brought Petra's hand to her lips and traveled up Petra's arm.

“Jane...”

“Hm?” 

“Get me out of these work clothes.”

She didn't have to ask. Jane circled around Petra and slowly unzipped her dress, making more contact with Petra's skin then necessary, her fingers brushing Petra's spine. She could feel Petra shudder.

Petra spun around suddenly and kissed Jane. Her hands came up and cupped Jane's face, her nose brushing against Jane's. She barely broke away for a second before going back in for another kiss. She only broke the second kiss because they both needed to breathe. Gasping, Jane rested her forehead against Petra's chin. Petra's perfume, which Jane had smelled many times before, was suddenly strong and intoxicating. 

Working blindly, Jane found the shoulders of Petra's dress and slowly pushed it down. Petra's hands, which were still cold, found their way underneath Jane's shirt and were now working at her bra. It snapped Jane's back.

“Sorry...” Petra mumbled. 

“It's okay. It's hard opening a bra from that angle.”

Jane went to prove that with Petra's bra, but ended up undoing it in her first attempt. The bra fell to the ground, exposing Petra's breasts. “Well, that was just lucky.”

A flush went from Petra's chest up to her hairline. Jane felt a little weird for staring, before remembering she was dating Petra. She leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of Petra's left breast. Petra's hand slipped underneath Jane's chin and lifted her head up. Their eyes met and Jane was suddenly aware of the pounding of her heart. She was aware of Petra's heartbeat too, visible against her bare skin.

“We should go to the bed,” Petra said in a husky voice.

Jane nodded stupidly and followed Petra. Just as they were at the edge of the bed, Petra grabbed Jane and pulled them both onto the bed. With Jane on top, Petra kissed Jane and went back into Jane's shirt, this time successful with unclasping her bra. Giving Petra some help, Jane sat up and threw her shirt over her shirt and tossed her bra to the side.

They stared at each other for several moments. Jane's eyes flickered between Petra's eyes and her breasts, while Petra was clearly doing the same. Jane leaned forward and pressed her full body against Petra's. They kissed for a moment, before Petra's mouth found its way onto Jane's neck, then the bottom of her jaw, then her earlobe. She went from spot to spot slowly, almost painfully slow. Jane was torn because she loved this going slow, but she also just wanted to do it. The aching between her legs was growing and annoying and she just wanted to...

She grabbed the dress still around Petra's hips and pulled it down further and found...

Nothing. Petra wasn't wearing underwear.

“Petra...”

Petra grinned. “I had a good feeling about tonight.”

“Oh, Petra...”

Jane wished she had thought about the same thing, but for once she didn't think that far ahead. Right now she felt trapped in these stupid shorts while she took in Petra's beautiful body. She also noted that Petra had clearly done maintenance down there. She really was expecting this to happen.

Petra popped the button of Jane's shorts open with a quick flick of her finger. Her knuckles brushed against Jane through her shorts and Jane nearly had an orgasm right there. Feeling the shudder, Petra chuckled.

“How's this going slow thing working out for you?”

“Regretting it.”

Petra slid her hand into Jane's shorts, but kept it over the underwear. She pressed two fingers firmly against Jane's clit. Jane's mouth fell open and she shuddered. It had been too long since anyone touched her like that. 

Petra did it again, with a little bit more force. Jane closed her eyes tightly, trying to keep them from rolling back in her head.

This teasing was both infuriating and wonderful. Remembering that Petra was completely naked underneath her, Jane pulled one leg up and pressed it between Petra's legs. Petra's body briefly went rigid and a quiet gasp escaped her.

“I see how it is,” Petra said. 

Petra ground down against Jane's leg, allowing Jane to feel the wet heat on her thigh. It was supposed to tease Petra, but it was back-firing badly. Jane grabbed Petra's ass and pushed her hips hard against Jane's leg. Petra groaned. 

Petra sat up slightly and took one of Jane's breasts in her mouth. She was gentle for only a moment before it turned into teeth and hard sucking. Between that and the fingers pressed against Jane's still covered clit, she wanted to cry.

“Oh, God, Petra just touch me already!” Jane snapped.

Petra, apparently getting a kick out of Jane yelling at her like that, grinned and forcefully pushed Jane's shorts and underwear down her legs. Jane, suddenly forgetting how to remove clothes, struggled in getting them all the way off her legs. She kicked violently, finally sending them flying across the room.

Jane suddenly found herself on her back, as Petra, in surprising quickness, flipped them over. Petra had her hands clasping Jane's upper arms, as she gazed down at Jane.

“I love you so much, Jane.”

“I love you too, Petra. Now, please. Ravish me.”

Petra laughed. “'Ravish me'? You read too many romance novels.”

“Maybe, but I have learned some things from those novels. You wanna find out what?”

Petra's smile disappeared and something darker grew in her eyes. She kissed Jane, deeply. 

“Yes, I want to find out,” Petra whispered in Jane's ear. “But first...”

Petra's hand (which was thankfully no longer cold) traveled down Jane's stomach and settled at the area where Jane's leg met her crotch. Sensitive and a little bit ticklish Petra's hand there made Jane squirm a little. And it stayed there. It didn't move.

“Petra?”

“I'm fine.”

“I didn't say you weren't.”

Petra frowned. “I want to try a different angle, is that okay?”

A little bit confused, Jane nodded. “Sure.”

They both got up. Petra had Jane sit, while Petra got behind her. Petra's breasts were pressed into Jane's back and she could feel Petra breathing heavily.

“This is much better.”

“...For what?”

Petra answered by sliding two fingers up Jane, sliding up the sides of her clit and repeating that motion several times. Jane's hand flew to Petra's knee and squeezed it hard.

“Good?”

Jane nodded, words failing her. Was Petra really that good or was Jane just that turned on? Either way...

Petra kept the side of her thumb up against Jane's clit while she slid two fingers into Jane. Hooking and rubbing just the right places, Jane knew she didn't have long. She could have Petra drag this out but it felt so, so good.

She tried to relax a little bit, hoping to delay it a little bit longer. It didn't help when Petra started sucking on the side of Jane's neck. Or when Petra added her other hand; one hand for inside Jane, the other, the more dexterous one, on the outside. The other hand, specifically her index finger, was now running fast circles around Jane's clit.

Almost ever muscle in Jane's body was clenching now. Her face was hot. Her nails were digging into Petra's legs, but Petra didn't say anything.

Petra removed her hands. 

“Jane, look at me.”

Jane turned her head enough to meet Petra's eyes. As soon as she did, Petra finger was back on Jane's clit, along with those wonderful circles. Keeping her head in that position was difficult, as well as keeping her eyes open. But she did, all the way until that moment. As her body started to arch away, Petra crossed her arm over Jane's, pressing her against Petra's body.

The orgasm was slow, then powerful, taking several seconds to build. The kind that builds from the core and spreads out as it comes. Jane's whole body shook before collapsing against Petra.

“Shit...”

Petra kissed her ear. 

Jane stayed like that for a minute or two, her body pulsing. She could feel herself start to fall asleep, when she remembered Petra.

“Lie down,” Jane commanded.

Petra did as she was told and laid herself against the pillows on the bed. Jane turned around and slid herself between Petra's legs, giving her a good view of Petra. The only other time Jane had seen Petra at this angle was when she was giving birth, and Jane was mostly at Petra's head. And there were babies coming out of her. While Jane found childbirth to be a beautiful process, this was something completely different. Different feelings.

“Jane, I don't like you staring,” Petra said.

Jane didn't even realize she was staring, just forgetting herself for a second. “Sorry.”

“It's fine, just...” Petra gestured to herself. “It makes me a little self-conscious when someone does that.”

Jane smiled and nudged Petra's legs open a little bit more. “You're beautiful.”

She could feel her brain, slowly returning to cognition, wanting to think about this. But she wasn't going to overthink it. She had a goal and that was giving Petra an orgasm. That was it.

Leaning on her arms in a sort of push-up position, Jane bent her head down and swiped her tongue up Petra. The reaction was a slight spasm as Petra's legs twitched. She did it again, this time giving Petra's a little bit more focus. She heard Petra sigh above her.

Jane had to pause for moment while she found a more comfortable position. The push-up position was starting to hurt and she wanted to be able to use one of her hands. She placed one of Petra's legs up on her shoulder, giving her much better access.

“Petra, hand me one of those pillows.”

Petra did and Jane slid the pillow under Petra's hips, lifting them up a little bit.

For a moment, Jane took in the image of Petra. Yes, Petra's vagina was in full display, but also her golden hair splayed on the pillow, her large eyes watching Jane. When their eyes met, Petra's eyebrows bounced questioningly, while Jane just smiled at her.

She slid two fingers into Petra and pumped them in and out slowly. Her tongue darted out and flicked at Petra's clit, teasingly, making the barest of contact. She looked up at Petra and saw that her eyes were closed. They were closed tightly, telling Jane that she wasn't asleep.

Jane wrapped her lips around Petra's clit, sucking gently. Petra's hips pushed up at that.

Jane still had her fingers slipping in and out of Petra, but she had slowed that down, focusing more on what she was doing with her mouth. She did try something else, involving her pinky finger. She felt Petra tense briefly at the sensation, then relax.

“Hm,” was all Petra said in regards to that, so Jane kept her pinky there, while her index and middle finger curled inside Petra.

Petra was more responsive to the mouth on her clit though, so Jane put more effort into that. It was sort of a test, seeing what Petra reacted to more. Jane found that Petra liked, or at least reacted more to, a light, almost feather like touch. She made more noise when Jane did that.

But she also moved around more when Jane used a firmer touch. She remembered how Petra pressed her thumb against her (through her shorts) and how good that felt, so she tried that. The response was good, as a gasp turned into a moan. Jane felt Petra's leg twist against her shoulder.

Jane kept that pressure up, as she circled around Petra's clit. Petra's hands went to her face.

“Jane, Jane,” Petra whispered.

“Hm?” Jane slowed down as she looked up at Petra.

“No, don't slow down, keep going!” Petra used her leg to push Jane closer to her.

Jane leaned down and took Petra's clit in her mouth again, while her hand went up to Petra's chest, her fingertips lightly brushing the nipple. Petra's back arched up, her lips parted slightly. 

Jane's tongue swiped the sides of the clit a couple times before going over the top of it. Her hand, the one on Petra's chest, was suddenly being held by Petra's. Petra squeezed it and Jane looked up to meet Petra's eye.

Petra smiled at her and Jane smiled back. Then Jane went back down, her tongue firm. She didn't slow down this time, only alternating between direct contact and the sides, before going completely for that one spot she knew was it.

Petra's breathing picked up until it turned into a loud moan, followed by a string of words in Czech, the grip on Jane's hand suddenly tight. The leg on Jane's shoulder went rigid, twitching slightly, before dropping onto the bed. Petra ran a hand over her face and gasped onee last time.

Jane crawled up Petra's body, resting at her side. “Good?”

Petra just nodded, her eyes glazed over.

Jane kissed Petra, the taste of Petra still on her lips. “It was good for me too.”

“You did some interesting things,” Petra said after a moment. “That thing with your pinky...”

“Was a bit much, I know. I'm sorry.”

Petra shook her head. “No, no, it was... different. I wasn't solely against it.”

“I can't wait to do that again,” Jane said.

Petra smiled, her eyes closing. She yawned. “Me too.”

“Good night, Petra.”

“Good night, Jane.”

Petra fell asleep in a matter of seconds, a contented smile on her face. Jane watched Petra for a moment, remembering that moment when she knew. She placed a kiss on Petra's cheek before curling up against Petra.

Just as she was about to fall asleep, she got an idea, for a new book. She sprung from the bed, carefully, and went to the desk, grabbing a sheet of paper. She couldn't believe she didn't think of it before. A Venezuelan-American goes to 1980's Czechoslovakia and falls in love with a Czech girl, but circumstances keep them apart. Jane would work out of the details later, but it was a start.

Jane was so happy when she got back to bed, she felt completely at peace. For once it didn't take long for her to fall asleep and she drifted off with her girlfriend at her side.


End file.
